[rumori] bob ostertag's new instrument

Steev [rumori] bob ostertag's new instrument
Thu, 21 Jan 1999 17:21:10 -0800 (PST) (00916968070, Pine.LNX.4.05.9901211705110.8345-100000atflotsam.detritus.net)

okay, since i teased everyone about bob's new instrument and he
is too busy to explain it himself, and i just happened to see
it when i was at his place the other day, i will describe it.
It's pretty damn cool.

In fact, it's sort of mind-boggling, especially since he wasnt actually
able to demonstrate what it *sounds* like, he just showed me what the
interface looks like. Anyway, here goes - it runs on a 300MHz G3 running
Max and MSP, with one of those new mac lcd flatsceens and a huge Wacom
tablet. the tablet can take 2 inputs at a time, there are 2 wireless mouse
thingeys and 2 pen/airbrush kinda things and you can pick 2. the airbrush
things detect pressure, *tilt*, position, and there's a little roller
thing on the side. the "pucks" have regular mouse buttons and a roller thing.

On the tablet is a complicated color-coded overlay that maps different
regions to different functions. the versatility is amazing.
on the screen is some feedback about which options you've chosen, which
samples are loaded in, etc. basically you can load sets of samples into
RAM (512M of it!) and map the samples onto the grid of the tablet,
then assign various parameters to various controls, like x axis is the
sample, y axis is loop point, pressure is pitch, or whatever. also you can
create sequences, in which a series of actions gets recorded, then those
sequences can in turn be mapped to regions of the board and manipulated.
You can also control arbitrary outboard midi gear, or i think control
various parameters with outboard midi controllers.

Again, it's hard to imagine without hearing, but bob was in the middle of
tweaking the software and so he couldnt show me. he said that he thinks
he'll be able to improvise with it, but it's still in development. he's
using it for the first time at a gig in australia at the end of
february. i can't wait to see him play it in the bay area.

keeping you informed,

smh


Steev Hise, Head Chump
steevathise.org http://www.cyborganic.com/people/steev recycled art site: http://www.detritus.net -----------------------------------------------------------------
"We should get up, but the humming holds us down." -Jay Pinka
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