Friday we looked at a big roundup of game controllers for music, courtesy Chris O'Shea. Ready to look like a cyborg when making music? Want to keep your entire budget under US$20? Here's where to get started (thanks to atariboy for some link pointers here):
- Get the hardware: Pick up a P5 virtual reality gaming glove. (Check Froogle and the like; they're easy to find. I just picked one up for US$15.)
- Get something to make music with: Get something to control, like plasq's free/donationware sampler instrument Musolomo.
- Watch a video demo: Don't believe it will work? Take a pause for inspiration from this geeky video of P5 and Musolomo in action, courtesy OCP)
- Dig into the research: Check Audiomulch's page for info on P5 research. You've got Melbourne ensemble Simulus to thank.
- Windows drivers: Windows users will want P5 Glove MIDI.
- Mac drivers: Mac OS X user will probably need two pieces of software, depending on their setup. P5osc supports new-wave protocol OSC, but not standard MIDI as you'll need for Ableton Live, most virtual instruments, and the like. To convert to MIDI, get P5osc and a copy of DoctorOp's
Max/MSP-based P5 Glove MIDI Assigner, so you can assign the inputs of
the P5 to MIDI data. (Click on the software tab to find it. Available
as standalone in case you don't have Max/MSP.) - Start practicing: You're set! Assign the MIDI controllers
to something interesting, like a sample loop point or filters or a
synth, and play! Now you just have to figure out a way to make good music. 🙂
More music & gaming coverage coming soon; there's simply too much to cover here.