Accelerometer/Gyroscope Mods for Midi Controllers

The Artiphon Orba has exactly that, which you could use to control parameters for other controllers.

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…yes, at first I wasn’t that interested in the Orba, but the Artiphon Instrument made me reconsider as I’ve started messing around with that lately, and it’s a pretty good piece of design really. (You can tilt it on its strap for expression the same way melodic_malloc is thinking about with the Linnstrument.)

The Orba isn’t especially cheap though. But after you posted about it I looked on eBay again and impulsively purchased a faulty one for thirty quid . (“You can’t delete loops”. Dunno what that’s about. We’ll see.)


Using the accelerometer in an Android phone as a MIDI controller seems quite a well-trodden path. Eg

Other MIDI gloves:

ReMIDI T8
Tornado A1
Spektr

These are just positional with pads; they don’t have fabric-basic finger movement sensors like mi.mu.

I just came across something called Holon.ist which can harvest data from various other devices I hadn’t considered/heard of; things like Apple Watch and Movesense.

Movesense Developer Kit 2.0 – Movesense

While following up Movesense links, I came across a forthcoming Kickstarter campaign for the SOMI-1 by “Instruments of Things”. It looks like a version of Movesense targeted at musicians. I’m hoping this might offer a compact, affordable 9DoF sensor.

(It’s a new product by the company behind 2.4 Sink, mentioned above by thetechnobear, and aimed at dancers as well as musicians.)

“Faulty” Orba turned up today…seems perfect, probably a shop return from someone who didn’t know what they were doing. Thanks for reminding me matthewwood. :slight_smile:

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Me thinks the most cost effective method for (additional) expressive control is the LeapMotion.
Not an Accelerometer or Gyroscope though and quite heavy on the CPU. But can be used to the same purposes.
Unfortunately the Glover-software is unstable with the LeapMotion. The best is IMHO the freeware MidiPaw, well thought out and you can do quite nifty things with it. Quite CPU-intensive on its own, once you do more complex things. You get what you pay for, I suppose.

…yes, Leap is cool…they’re all very different though. You have to keep the Leap in one place and move your hands over it in a limited area (unless you stick it on a VR headset).

This thread got me set on the idea of a decent new gestural MIDI controller so I’ve grabbed a Genki Wave on eBay. When it turns up I’m hoping it’ll add new dimensions of expression to various MIDI controllers. You can pick up raw 9DoF sensors for a few quid and I reckon the OP could build something inexpensive into his Linnstrument with some Teensy/Arduino skills, but for a miniaturised wireless controller and simple MIDI presets you’ll be paying a bit more.

I’ll be watching the SOMI-1 campaign with interest, but although I think the sensors will be reasonably priced (the Movesense device they’re based on is about $80) they’ll need a proprietary receiver which might be rather more expensive. I’m guessing that a single-sensor system might come in at about £250 minimum on Kickstarter, although that’s wild speculation. (They currently offer a complete system for modular at around £450.)

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You could strap an iPhone or iPad to it and run GyrOSC.

SOMI-1 launched today. 40% discount for the first 50 (now half gone) isn’t bad; tempted, but having picked up a Genki Wave on eBay recently I probably don’t really need it.

(Quite like the Wave, vibrato is my favourite thing so far; it’s implemented pretty well.)

Damn. If I could afford it, I’d love to get the “receiver only” upgrade kit.

(I have two of the sensors sitting right next to me.)

EDIT:
Okay, if I could afford it, it’d be stupid not to go with the super early bird deal.

(Same thing, but I’d have FOUR sensors sitting right next to me.)

EDIT AGAIN:
…or the other super early bird deal.

(I could max out the hub with six sensors)