This didn’t take long. Someone has already begun using the Wii controller to trigger samples and settings in Ableton Live. (Thanks, Johan Larsby — happy holidays to you, too!) One-handed, wireless DJing is born:
The wiili server is back, so that Wiki is your best source for how-to information. In this case, what we’re seeing is presumably the Windows-based route: something like BlueSoleil for pairing via Bluetooth, and GlovePIE for interfacing with the Wii (or any other class-compliant game device, if you like) and scripting commands to translate control into MIDI.
Personally, I’d want to use the Wiimote for more sound-sculpting, to take advantage of the uniqueness of the controller rather than just use it as a set of buttons. I expect we’ll see more applications soon. For another example:
Yep, so far I think best to think of these as “proof of concept” / “Hello, World!” tests more than anything. So far, you could easily do these things — better — with conventional MIDI controllers. But getting a project to do something deeper will take time, so stay tuned … the Wii controller is capable of controlling software in ways that aren’t possible with other devices, even if it will take longer to make those work.
Now, for the really good news: more Wii resources have been coming out. There’s a new GlovePIE for download, but even better, a new resource site with scripts and mods:
Time to dump some MIDI-related stuff on them, huh? And, for those of you using Max/MSP on Macs, Masayuki Akamatsu has developed a Universal Binary external for Max/MSP that lets you route data directly into Max:
aka.wiiremote [Page in Japanese, but the download is easy to find]
Lots of other terrific externals and art projects there, as well. Wouldn’t quite make sense to port this directly to Windows, as it actually has to do more to work on the Mac, connecting to Bluetooth directly, and uses some Mac-specific routines. But it should be possible to do something similar in a Max external on Windows (already requested over on the Cycling forums) — or you could just use GlovePIE.
More Wii instructions soon. I have my own personal interests in how to use this, so watch for the CDM Guide to Wiimoting by next week some time.
Previously: MIDI Control for Music with Wii Remote: Teaser