iPhoneCostume
You are a dancer or a dance performance artist? And you always wished for a way to control music and sounds with your movements?
Every iPhone provides you with a tilt sensor, a touch screen, a power and a network unity.
So, why not use them for music control?
You desire a full body movement midi controller
✓ wearable
✓ comfortable
✓ wireless
✓ adjustable
✓ variable
✓ intuitive
✓ replaceable
✓ affordable
✓ environment friendly
Movement Control
The iPhones’s tilt sensor picks up your movements in three directions x, y and z.
Within the Max.msp-Patch 'MONSTERFRAU iPhoneCostume Tool 10' each tilt direction may be configured to send midi messages for pitch bend or control change to your Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) like Ableton Live.
Touch Control
The iPhones’ touch screens provide you with touch control.
Sliding your finger along the x or y axis of the touch screen may send pitch bend or control change messages to your DAW.
A single touch sends midi notes to turn your instruments or effect racks on/off, to play a synthesizer, sampler, or to trigger a sound sample.
Visual Feedback
The iPhones’ touch screens give you visual feedback.
A little red button follows your finger’s lead.
A full screen colour accompanies your fingertip. With the tilt sensor’s data stream enabled the ful screen turns into a moving stripe.
All colours may be adjusted.
Technical Overview
The free Pink Twins App ‘Fantastick’ is installed on every iPhone. A router creates a local network, which all iPhones and your computer are connected to. When Fantastick is up and running, the iPhones send data to the Max.msp-Patch 'MONSTERFRAU iPhoneCostume_Tool F10' on your computer. This Max.msp-Patch serves you to configure the iPhones’ data according to your movement preferences, turns them into midi messages and sends them to your Digital Audio Workstation like Ableton Live.
MONSTERFRAU-iPhoneCostume_Max-msp-Patch_Tool10.pdfTechnical Requirements
Here is what you need to set up:
A computer able to run
✓ Ableton 9 or 10 or another DAW
✓ Cycling’74 Max.msp (tested for Max 8)
✓ One or more iPhones 4 and/or 5
✓ A Wlan Router to create a local wireless network
✓ Something to fix the iPhones on your body
In my case, I decided to use straps with buckles or hook-and-loop-fasteners to wear around my body parts.
To fix the iPhones on these straps I use hook-and-loop-fasteners as well.
I recommend that you do not use the self-adhesive ones as they get loose when the iPhones become hot. So, it is better to try a two component high temperature proof glue to fix the hook-and-loop fasteners on the back of the iPhones.
Notification
The whole set-up is only tested for Mac.
You’re free to help adapt to other systems.
Pick up my idea and afterwards, surprise, and challenge me with your attitude, music sets and movement patterns!
I have a dream of a new interface orchestra for a total work of art. Let's connect and share!
The only way to forward, shift and shape actively our future, and relation to future technology, is to take it into our hands. The problem with DIY technology after all: Once I have dealt with long interface developing procedures building hardware from scratch I end up with one single prototype. While a multitude of common devices are thrown away every day.
When it comes to technical progress, common devices like mobile phones do have very short service lifetimes. Recycling efficiency is questionable. So, how can we extend devices' service lifetime itself?
MONSTERFRAU developing the iPhoneCostume - a bit of a story
“As a sound performance artist playing sounds and music effects with my movements I had to deal with
→ long interface developing procedures building hardware and software from scratch with exhausting test cycles at high costs.
→ the audience who repeatedly gave me feedback - that they would like to better understand, which movement controls what sound.
→ I wished for big buttons I could not miss, even when not looking where to touch, which would give me and the audience visual feedback of what was going on.
So, the perfect solution would be a sensor with
→ a big lighted button,
→ a battery pack and
→ a wireless transmitter all in one.
One finger point would do the trick:
→ enable the sensor’s data stream,
→ enable the music effect or instrument and
→ tell people which sensor I actually play.
All this at once and easy to use.
Now, here they are –
iPhones – very affordable at second hand. Replaceable, easy to get. Highly variable – you can choose any time where to put it and which movement to control the sound with.
You got
→ tilt sensors to control sounds with your movements
→ huge screens for intuitive play buttons
→ visual feedback to the audience by the screens and the performer’s gestures
Up to eight iPhones 4 and/or 5 are transformed into a powerful midi controller for music performance artists.
Instruments and music effects in Ableton Live may be controlled by movements.
One finger point does the trick.
The iPhonesCostume - you do not need to be a tech geek to run the system.
Enjoy!"
Yours, MONSTERFRAU Lena
Credits
A full body movement midi-controller
MONSTERFRAU iPhoneCostume
Upcycling up to 8 iPhones 4 and/or 5 to a new interface for musical expression via movement control
Tested for Max 8 and Ableton 10 running on a MacBookPro mid 2015 macOS Mojave with 16 GB Ram, and a MacBook Pro macOS BigSure with 8GB Ram.
2019-2020
Developed by MONSTERFRAU /Wicke-Aengenheyster (idea, concept, testing) & Martin Moser (programming)
Kindly supported by Pink Twins - Fantastick
Fantastick is Copyright (C) 2011 Pink Twins, jusu/Fantastick is licensed under the MIT License.
THE SOFTWARE ‘MF-iPhoneCostume_Tool F10.maxpat’ IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHERLIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.