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From: davisonj@en.ecn.purdue.edu (John M Davison)
Newsgroups: comp.music
Subject: Re: Improvements to the Boie Radio Drum
Message-ID: <1990Nov30.232204.22413@en.ecn.purdue.edu>
Date: 30 Nov 90 23:22:04 GMT
References: <9011280540.AA02464@en.ecn.purdue.edu> <86452@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu>
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network
Lines: 91

In article <86452@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> mark@giza.cis.ohio-state.edu (Mark Jansen) writes:
>	What do you do when you have too many degrees of freedom. [sic]
>
>		- practice 

	Only if the mode of operation is accepted as useful.  As far
as the marketplace is concerned, "useful" will initially mean "close
to a generally accepted technique," which is why Octapads sell so
well.  Then (hopefully) as the Radio Drum begins to be accepted by the
marketplace, different modes of operation can be introduced after the
initial ones have established themselves.

>		- ignore certain dof
>		- combine dof's by some equation
>		- use excess dof's to control some random timbre of
>			the instrument being played

	All of the above.  For the initial commercial release of the
Radio Drum, I would do whatever was simplest and cheapest to implement
in currently available hardware.  (Two output ports would be
desirable, one with the raw output signals, and one MIDI port.  This
would make for upward compatability with more sophisticated modes of
operation as they are introduced.)

>	another device to mention here is the performance instrument
>	called Thunderbird (if I remember right) by Don Buchula [sic].

	Buchla's Thunder has made the mistake of providing too alien
an interface for beginners, though.  It would be nice to have an
interface that wouldn't stump beginners, but wouldn't bore experts.

>	I think the really interesting issue is what metaphor we use a
>	musical device for.  We have the "organ" model where we tax the
>	player to the max to control as many keys as possible.
>
>	We also have the "conductor" mode, where the music is being 
...
>	We also have the improvisational mode where the computer generates
>	certain parts based on the lead from the human player.
>
>	what [sic] other metaphor's [sic] are their [sic]?

	Another question to ask is "How does the MIDI interface limit
the range of metaphors capable of exploration by the Radio Drum?"
Assuming that there would be a MIDI in a commercial Radio Drum (and I
think that is a fair assumption, considering that at present, the
absence of one would be commercial suicide), what do you do with it?

	Mathews has done work with the Radio Baton, a version of the
Radio Drum in which the performer literally conducts.  Subotnick has
done related work in trying to make a computer be able to anticipate
the future gestures of a conductor and act upon those predictions.
Come to think of it, Richard Boulanger had an interview article in a
recent _Computer_Music_Journal_ about work in this area.

	Here are a few things which I would consider to be mandatory
for a commercial Radio Drum:

1. Drum mode -- the drum area is partitioned into Octapad-like
                segments, sending out a note-on when the stick goes
                below a certain height, then sending out pressure
                values when the stick goes below another preset
                height.  X and Y values for the stick could be mapped
                to various MIDI continuous controls or something like
                that.

2. Theremin mode -- each axis is sent as a different continuous
                    controller value (or turned off).

3. Xylophone mode -- similar to drum mode, except that the drum area
                      would be partitioned into segments resembling
                      the bars of a mallet instrument.

4. Conductor mode -- depending on the movements of one or more
                     transmitters, MIDI timing information would be
                     sent.

5. Piano keyboard mode -- like xylophone mode; you get the idea.

	I can't think of any way by which an "improvisational" mode
could be implemented.

The Drum itself and the mallets should be as durable as possible.
Both soft and hard mallet tips should be made available.

	Each transmitter should be able to have a distinct mode
assigned to it, thus allowing the performer to conduct with his/her
right hand and affect continuous controller values with his/her left
hand.  (Richard Boulanger did this when I saw him perform.)

-davisonj@medusa.cs.purdue.edu