R/E/P => R/E/P Archives => Reason In Audio => Topic started by: jarek on September 22, 2005, 09:13:42 PM
Title: when will we evolve beyond the current man2machine interface (or midi controller)
Post by: jarek on September 22, 2005, 09:13:42 PM
its amazing that in this day and age where technology is so advanced, we still use tools that were invented for office use (keyboard/mouse) to transfer our musical ideas into the digital machine for further manipulation.
sure there are things such as midi keyboard controllers which give us a more direct way of interfacing our thoughts into the daw; although these are mere replicas of classic analogue pianos and mixers.
but what about a SPECIFIC TOOL intended FOR JUST THAT RESAON. a device intended for this ourpose only and not a replica of a piano (midi keyboard) or mixer (fader box)
does anyone have any ideas regarding this matter?
my personal idea is in the form of a chair. one that you can sit at with your eyes closed if you wish (making it a pure sonic experience) and your hands inside boxes mounted on the arm rests. inside the boxes would be lasers which could be assigned to any parameter (think roland d-beam, but in 3D) so you could for example control filter cutoff with your index finger while your other fingers control other parameters. maybe your left hand would be the navigator tool (possibly used to assign the parameters of the right hand on the fly)
i think it would take a while to get used to, but eventualy, it could be a way (with the movement of a hand)of coming up with sounds that otherwise would not be thought of with conventional ways (or knobs and keys)
Title: Re: when will we evolve beyond the current man2machine interface (or midi controller)
Post by: Barry Hufker on September 22, 2005, 09:31:06 PM
I think this is literally the (multi-)million dollar question.
Digidesign essentially conceded defeat when they came out with the Icon. The introduction of that product said, in essence, "We can't really get beyond a digital console. Working directly with the computer is not productive."
Well that's bullshit. The problem is more than hardware. The problem is the whole notion of mixing/recording with an image of a mixer on a screen. I have a console sitting in front of me and on my computer is the image of a console! Exactly how stupid is that?
People don't need access to images of things changing the sound, they need to directly change the sound. Want something panned left? Move its image left. Want something louder? Raise its image higher on the screen or make it physically taller. Want reverb? Drag "reverb" from the "tool box" at the side of the screen. Need to do more than one thing at a time? Use the touchscreen to grab a bunch of sounds, group them and move them. No mouse. Keyboard only for labeling stuff.
Further, the working surface isn't flat. The view facing you is flat but the work surface rotates when you touch a corner of the screen. Imagine you're looking at one side of a multisided surface (such as a dodecahedron -- I say that only because I like how that word sounds!). So as you work now, you see one surface, "rotate" the surface to reveal a completely different or similar surface, whatever you need.
You do this with two hands, using as many touchscreens as you want or need. All screens are in easy reach. Everything is automatable.
This is all doable. It is all doable at a reasonable price. Why we never progressed beyond a f***ing picture of a f***ing mixer is beyond me.
Oh, by the way, I investigated patenting this. Too hard an idea (for a poor man) to protect.
Barry
Title: Re: when will we evolve beyond the current man2machine interface (or midi controller)
Post by: vernier on September 22, 2005, 10:05:38 PM
We stopped evolving when the transistor came on the scene. That was along time ago.
Title: Re: when will we evolve beyond the current man2machine interface (or midi controller)
Post by: rankus on September 23, 2005, 06:29:14 PM
vernier wrote on Thu, 22 September 2005 19:05
We stopped evolving when the transistor came on the scene. That was along time ago.
Isn't the transister just a solid state tube?
Perhaps we stopped evolving when the wax cylinder was invented.... since then it's just been one medium or another going round and round with a means of "reading" the chicken scratch embedded on the medium....
Sorry, not trying to start a debate, just continuing this line of thought.
And I will buy two of Barry's interfaces... cash up front to aid in the development,!!!!