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[microsound] re: MIDI exoskeleton



Theremin nailed it with the terpsitone, no exoskeleton required:
http://www.theremin.nl/scriptie/eng/en6.html

Hard to say if he really "nailed it". Certainly a pioneering implementation of the concept though. The information from his device is only composed of a single though somewhat unique stream.


As I understand it you just have one measurement being made from the pad being stood on. For all intents it's measuring the person's mass inversely scaled with distance. A lot of body mass near the antenna is output as a low frequency. Standing and extending the limbs as far as possible scales down the influence of that same mass and delivers a high frequency. It's more interesting or challenging as a concept than successful in any sort of nuanced performance. The performer has to concentrate on getting enough of their body closer or further from the pad antenna. I guess it almost amplifies the chances of looking contorted or silly because your primary goal is achieving a particular pitch and the body's orientation and movement is rather restricted with any specific pitch.

And then of course if the point is just to control the sound in private, not make a performance out of it, then a standard theremin would be far less exhausting and far more precise.

The benefit with mocap, suits, gloves, etc. consists of gathering the 3D position of whatever the limbs, fingers, etc. that have the ability to measure and then one can map them to as many parameters as you have available. But as with anything being mapped, resolution has a lot to do with achieving the desired result.

nick kent
http://technopop.info/ndkent/

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