Leif Bloomquist presented several projects involving MIDI controllers and Commodore 64 MIDI interfaces. The presentation included demonstrations of using the SonicWear SoMo sensor and LEAP Motion as MIDI controllers, as well as MIDI interfaces for the Commodore 64 and VIC-20 computers. Other projects discussed were a MIDI-controlled flame effects controller called midifire16, an organ concert series where a pipe organ was controlled with MIDI, and MIDIMapperX software for custom MIDI mapping.

1. Leif Bloomquist
Soundhackers Meetup #5 “Controller Crazy”
@ New Adventures In Sound Art
Artscape Wychwood Barns, Toronto, ON
June 26th 2014

2. 1. Introduction
2. SonicWear SoMo as a MIDI Controller
3. LEAP Motion as a MIDI Controller (demo)
4. MIDI Interfaces for the Commodore 64 and VIC-20 (demo)
5. midifire16 MIDI-controlled flame effects controller
6. Organic Evolution: MIDI-Controlled Pipe Organ concerts series
7. MIDIMapperX
8. Contact info
Controller Crazy!

3. • “Classically trained” in clarinet and percussion including several summers at
the International Music Camp in North Dakota, USA
• Have been dabbling with music, composing, and technology since the 1980s
• Moved to Waterloo in 1992 to study Systems Design Engineering
• Moved to Toronto in 1997 and discovered the Ambient Ping, Riot Art and
other experimental music communities
• Occasional “live” gigs as Schema Factor / Interweaver
• Playing with the tech is half the fun!
• In general I release my tools and techniques open-source
• Enable other electronic musicians to build on ideas!
• “Day job” in software engineering at MDA, creators of the Canadarm
Introduction

4. • Some early experiments with Arduino-based
accelerometers and MIDI (NAISA TransX 2013)
• Discovered Loretta Faveri’s SonicWear project at OCADU in
2013
• Exactly what I was looking for!
• Wrote some Arduino code and found some open source
applications to adapt it to a MIDI controller to use in any
audio software
SonicWear SoMo as a MIDI Controller

5. SonicWear SoMo as a MIDI Controller
SonicWear SoMo
Wireless Serial/USB Driver
loopMIDI
(Only needed on Windows)
“Hairless MIDI Bridge”
DAW
(Ableton, FL Studio,
MAX, etc.)

6. • Interactive input device
that tracks hand and
finger positions through
infrared sensors
• Music is a natural fit!
LEAP Motion as a MIDI Controller
• Several music apps in the LEAP “Airspace” store:
GECO, Chordion Conductor, AirHarp, AeroMIDI…
• Chose GECO MIDI, simple and intuitive ($9.99)
• Windows or MacOS

7. LEAP Motion as a MIDI Controller
demo

8. LEAP Motion as a MIDI Controller
LEAP Motion
LEAP Motion Driver
loopMIDI
(Only needed on Windows)
GECO MIDI
DAW
(Ableton, FL Studio,
MAX, etc.)
LEAP MotionVisualizer

9. • I adore my Commodore 64!
• The C64’s longevity has
been in part to its innovative SID
(Sound Interface Device) chip and
its distinctive sound (specs next page)
• SID chip was designed by
Robert "Bob"Yannes, who went on to found Ensoniq
• Highly sought after by DJs and composers
• Subculture of remixing classic game tunes
• “Chiptunes” music generated by classic video games and computers
(Nintendo, GameBoy, Atari, Commodore…)
• There were several MIDI products during the heyday, with more coming
Commodore MIDI Projects

10. • Three separately programmable independent audio oscillators (8 octave range,
approximately 16 - 4000 Hz)
• Four different waveforms per audio oscillator (sawtooth, triangle, pulse, noise)
• One multi mode filter featuring low-pass, high-pass and band-pass outputs with 6 dB/oct
(bandpass) or 12 dB/octave (lowpass/highpass) rolloff. The different filter-modes are
sometimes combined to produce additional timbres, for instance a notch-reject filter.
• Three attack/decay/sustain/release (ADSR) volume controls, one for each audio oscillator.
• Three ring modulators.
• Oscillator sync for each audio oscillator.
• Two 8-bit A/D converters (typically used for game control paddles, but later also used for a
mouse)
• External audio input (for sound mixing with external signal sources)
• Random number/modulation generator
MOSTechnology 6581 SID Specifications

11. • “MIDI SID Software Integrated Applications and Hardware” released in 2006
• Based on the previously released Prophet64 cartridge (no MIDI)
• Sequencer
• Mono Synthesizer (TB-303 style sequencer)
• Bassline (TB-303 style sound)
• Drummer (TR-909 style interface)
• MIDI Input
(I have no involvement in this, just a satisfied customer. www.prophet64.com )
Commodore MIDI Projects – MSSIAH 64

12. • Brand new MIDI cartridge for the Commodore 64 coming August 2014
• Includes:
• Synthesizer software Pro 16 by Steinberg
• MIDI version of Cynthcart synthesizer
• SID-WizardTracker
• Much more
(I have no involvement in this either, I just think it’s super cool and supported the
successful StartNext campaign: www.startnext.de/en/kerberos )
Commodore MIDI Projects - Kerberos

13. Commodore MIDI Projects -VICMIDI
• The Commodore 64 is well served by MIDI interfaces, but what about its
predecessor, the VIC-20?
• VIC-20 has its own distinctive sound
• Three pulse waveform channels and one
“noise” channel
• Create some incredible drones and beating
frequencies
• 15 new waveforms were discovered by
“viznut” (Finland) in 2003

14. Commodore MIDI Projects -VICMIDI
• No commercial MIDI interfaces were ever made
• “Electronics,The Maplin Magazine” published schematics
and some simple code for MIDI back in the 1980s
• Francois Leveille and David Viens (Montreal) built a
prototype several years ago, which I took over
• Code updated to be a full-featured MIDI implementation
• Hardware design was picked up by Jim Brain of
Retro Innovations (2nd Prototype shown)
• Gearing up for a small production run “soon”
Updates: www.go4retro.com

15. Commodore MIDI Projects -VICMIDI
demo

16. Organic Evolution
• St. Andrew’s Latvian Lutheran Church in downtown Toronto (College/Jarvis)
• Casavant Frères pipe organ built in late 1800s
• Refurbished/upgraded a few years ago by Classic Organ Works (Markham)
• These upgrades included MIDI control of the organ!
• Concert series demonstrating the technical and artistic possibilities 2007-
www.organicevolution.net

17. midifire16

18. • Solid-State Relay board for controlling Flame Effects
• Hardware designed by Seth Hardy of Site 3 Fire Arts /
Propane and Electrons
• Controlled through MIDI – 16 channels
• Note On to turn flames on, Note Off to turn flames off
• Safety features: Separate power, triggers, timeouts
• Arduino compatible
• Open Source: Board designs and code on GitHub
• Live tests this summer!
• “What could possibly go wrong?”
midifire16

19. MIDIMapperX

20. • VST (Virtual Synth Technology)
• Use with any Digital Audio Workstation
• Allows you to specify and “map” custom MIDI messages
• Convert Note On/Note Off or CC messages to any other
MIDI message (even SysEx!)
• Great for controlling custom hardware
• Currently Windows-only, but working with VST Library
developer for MacOS/Linux port (built on .NET/Mono)
• Open Source [MIT License], code on GitHub
www.schemafactor.com/midimapperx/
MIDIMapperX

21. • www.schemafactor.com (music)
• www.jammingsignal.com (blog)
• www.facebook.com/SchemaFactor
• @schemafactor
• leif@schemafactor.com
Looking for opportunities to collaborate!
Contact Info