wii-based Drum Sampler created in MaxMSP for a Music Therapy Development Group at Berklee College of Music
This project originated as part of a Music Therapy Development Group at Berklee College of Music during the 2012 Spring Semester, led by Dr. Richard Boulanger and Professor Chi Kim. The purpose for this group was to create musical applications via MaxMSP for the Assistive Music Technology Lab for Blind and Visually Impaired Musicians. My goal for this project was to create a sampler within MaxMSP that could be controlled via a wiiMote. This function allows the user the ability to play the drums without a kit or trigger samples without pressing a pad. There are many applications for this, try it out and expand your artistic vocabulary with the wiiAirDrum. Enjoy!
Project featued on Cycling74.com
- Always MUTE the instruments before you turn ON the samplers otherwise all of the instruments will turn on at once and the sounds created can be rather unpleasant.
- Wherever you place the wiiAirDrum folder, always make sure the contents of the folder stay inside of the wiiAirDrum folder. Samples can be freely deleted and replaced within the preset folders but they cannot be moved since it was designed for 5 preset folders.
- New folders can be dropped into the “drop folder” box if you choose not to use the preset folders.
- To connect a wiiMote to the patch, press and hold the buttons labeled 1 & 2.
- While holding the buttons labeled 1 & 2, click the ON button for either wiiMote sampler. It is best to connect each controller individually to not create bluetooth confusion while MaxMSP is searching for the signal.
- Once connected, an image adjacent to the on/off buttons will start streaming the x (blue), y (red) and z (green) axis movement from the wiiMote.
Once the wiiMote is connected, a sample is triggered by striking downward in a drum-like motion. A sample can be selected from a pool of 5 folders by using the directional pad, allowing the user to select their favorite folder of samples samples to be played. The samples within the selected folder can be selected after selecting the folder for the appropriate sampler by using the + and – button. Once a sample is chosen for the decided button, the sample can be triggered by pressing and holding one of the buttons below and striking down in a drum-like motion.
Down D-Pad = wiiMote OPEN Strike (Sampler #1 & 5) Left D-Pad = wiiMote A Strike (Sampler #2 & 6) Up D-Pad = wiiMote B Strike (Sampler #3 & 7) Right D-Pad = wiiMote AB Strike (Sampler #4 & 8)
Ex. How you want to change the sample for the drum movement for the B button but it is in Preset Folder #4?
- Find the direction on the directional pad that is associated with that strike, in this case, Up.
- Press the direction on the directional pad until you see the 4th preset folder show up.
- Select the sample manually with the computer on on the controller by pressing the + or - to scroll through the sample list.
Presets can be created by holding shift and clicking with a mouse/trackpad. To erase a preset, hold option + shift then click the blue preset that needs to be deleted. Also presets can be saved by clicking the “write” button with is to the right of the preset bubbles. Settings can be loaded by clicking the “read” button below the “write” button.