The Monome MIDI controller is real

Before you read on, watch this video [QT] - without seeing the thing in action, it's just a box covered in buttons... A year ago, I wrote about the Bitbox, a wooden box covered in buttons and LEDs, which worked as a very cool sample-triggering device, a bit like the perfect hardware controller for Ableton Live. The Bitbox is now the Monome, and they're currently building a first batch of 8x8 boxes for $500 (sample development blog entry: "2/23/05: today we ordered thirteen thousand diodes from digikey"). The box connects to a computer via USB, and is then pretty much open source. Various people (including Ezra Buchla, son of Don) are developing applications using MIDI and OSC - "The wonderful thing about this device is that is doesn't do anything really. it wasn't intended for any specific application. we'll make several, and others will make more. we hope to share as many of these as possible. drum machines, loopers, 1bit video transformers, physics models, virtual sliders, math games, etc." If nothing else, the upcoming 16x16 grid model will be the greatest xoxox drum pattern programmer ever made...

Posted by Tom Whitwell.

Comments:

I want one!

# posted by

Anonymous : 11:24 am

This is real sweet!
It's strange what a box with lights can do :)

# posted by

CUCKOO : 11:51 am

But it's more...much more...

It's a box with *lots* of lights.

I'm gettin' all sweaty just thinking about it.

# posted by

Anonymous : 3:04 pm

The nice thing about this is that at the end of the video you can see the ibook's screen luminosity going down in the background, which proves that when using this thing with a laptop you don't need to touch the computer... :)

# posted by

Anonymous : 5:13 pm

I'm gonna have to play with one of these at the Makefair.

# posted by

Muller : 7:02 pm

The really exciting thing about these matrix sequencer jobbies to me, is that we'll start to see people who are physical/musical performance masters, ala turntablists, people who make it do things the creators never really imagined. In fact.. I wouldn't doubt that you might see an X-man ripping out ridiculous beats in the not too distant future.

# posted by

Anonymous : 9:05 pm

Is it possible to program the buttons yourself?
I have lots of uses for such a box but not involving music or MIDI.

# posted by

Anonymous : 9:14 pm

Ok, I take what I just wrote back, kind of. From monome site:

"message filtering and learn functions are provided for quick and intuitive use. an open-mode exists to allow very low level control structures. with mapd you can create very sophisticated interaction patches without writing your own code. if you do write your own code..."

They have obviously imagined quite a bit, and are catering to the future Lydia Kavina, rather than turnkey-preset beatmeisters.

OSC sounds very cool.

# posted by

Anonymous : 9:21 pm

Want...bad!!

# posted by

london cokehead : 9:38 pm

midi isn't just for music. it has actually been adapted for other uses, one being controlling light shows.

# posted by

Anonymous : 2:24 am

This is also featured on hackaday.com. I don't know who is copying who, but I find the lack of originality rather irratating.

This blog has been going downhill lately.

# posted by

Anonymous : 9:41 am

"This blog has been going downhill lately."

Dude, you've got to keep up. A few weeks ago, it officially jumped the shark.

Only complete losers are still reading.

# posted by

Tom Whitwell : 10:00 am

Don't knock on the pink vomit machine..

# posted by

Anonymous : 10:32 am

"This blog has been going downhill lately."

waaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!

baby need diaper changed.

waaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!

# posted by

Anonymous : 3:22 pm

yo man, anonymous complaining about duplicate info from hackaday...

on hackaday it says this is from Music Thing. doh ? Are you seriously complaining about duplicate information ? by now, you should have accepted that as a fact of society, same as our moronic government and everything else we live freely under.

that said, this box is neat. i would like to see it for not too expensive and available soon.

# posted by

Anonymous : 3:51 am

This thing is incredible, and I would definitely want to get one.

# posted by

Anonymous : 4:43 pm

I find that as a music device, it has lots of potential. I often find that depending on the input method, you come up with many different styles.

# posted by

Anonymous : 12:13 pm

it is possible to control live with monome?

Thanks

# posted by

Anonymous : 10:14 pm

man, that chicks hands are UHHHGGLY!!!

# posted by

Anonymous : 3:39 am

I've just seen a guy by the name of Daedelus play in Leeds - with one of these things and a Mac.
It was f'in awesome. Gotta get one. Not just good, actually mesmerising!

# posted by

Anonymous : 2:42 am