Double Slide Controller
July 26, 2010 10:29 PM   Subscribe

This is exactly what I imagined a Visi-Sonor would sound like. [SLYT]

"The Double Slide Controller is a new electronic instrument whose playing technique is based on the acoustic slide trombone. It has 2 independent slides and two versatile hand controllers that allow free motion in three spatial dimensions. In this clip the right hand slide is generating the pitches which are triggered by the breath of the player while the left hand slide is controlling the pitch of some drone tones.

Several sensors built into the hand controllers allow the player to modify in real time the sound of the drone tones.

In this example the software (MAXMSP) directs the melodic material via MIDI to a Yamaha VL-70m synth while the sustained notes are produced by a softsynth (NI Massive).
One can also hear some delay+echo type effects on the main melody. These are controlled by a joystick on the right hand controller."
posted by mhjb (9 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Seems like a pretty random choice of interface mechanisms. I guess if you're looking for a wind controller and you really want the trombone feel, this is your widget. I don't see that it's really opening up any doors.
posted by doctor_negative at 10:44 PM on July 26, 2010


In the end it's just a different way of controlling a synth. It seems rather elaborate, and in the end, completely unnecessary. It's a solution in search of a problem, or a solution for a problem which has already been solved better, long before.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:56 PM on July 26, 2010 [1 favorite]


There's another way to drive a synth with a 3D controller in each hand, mouth control and tactile switches?
posted by mhjb at 11:03 PM on July 26, 2010


At the start of the clip, I could have sworn he was about to launch into the theme from Exodus.
posted by Bromius at 11:13 PM on July 26, 2010


I love this. Truly unuseful, but I am a sucker for objects that display a synthesis of creativity and engineering skill. The fact that it looks and sounds like something from scifi television of decades past is just icing.
posted by thedaniel at 12:14 AM on July 27, 2010


Whoa. Double trombone all the way.
posted by emelenjr at 4:13 AM on July 27, 2010




Shades of the Eigenharp.
posted by The Bellman at 6:20 AM on July 27, 2010


Neat interface, but it would probably sound better if someone that was less of a nerdy engineer wasn't playing a bagpipe funeral dirge on it.
posted by loquacious at 8:06 AM on July 27, 2010


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