The instrument described here is a custom made MIDI controller that can be plugged into a sequencer or software such as Reason. The right hand uses analog joysticks like those in PlayStation controllers and the left hand controlled momentary buttons which loaded new keys and effects. Working with Charles Amis and Adam Nash on the project, we developed three unique instruments with completely customizable interfaces. I made mine out of wood and shaped it like a guitar because the nature of the buttons and controllers translated perfectly into this format. Charles and Adam boldly constructed their instruments out of gourds. Though you’ll see 10 joysticks on the prototype, I used a 7 joystick, 2 octave system that you’ll see soon. The top 3 were mainly to experiment with Charles’ system and allowed me to get roughly another octave out of my layout.
The 7 joystick, 2 octave system allows for a concise and intuitive way to strike chords and move through scales. The user moves up the scale by moving the joysticks in a counter-clockwise fashion. The right hand is placed over the controllers with the index finger landing on the lower right controller. Take a look at the 7 controller interface below:
Some notes do immediately repeat themselves. For example, the first occurrence of G is repeated on two joysticks. This was necessary to keep the chord system consistent and was done in the spirit of how a guitar is mostly tuned to fourths.
Here are the ways a user manipulates the joysticks. The joysticks are versatile. Users can move clockwise, counter-clockwise, up, or down to strike notes in different ways. Clockwise and counter-clockwise motions allow for semitones, which sound like slides or bends on a guitar.
Taking a closer look at the layout of the notes, you can see how chords are constructed. Here are just a few examples of how to play all the basic root position chords in the key of C.
And finally an interesting way to arpeggiate the vii diminished chord:
The system also makes it simple to play some chords in relative keys. Here’s D in the relative key of G major:
Here is a closer look at how a user interacts with the fretboard to modulate or load effects:
Further information about the project can be found at polyvox10.blogspot.com.