[sdiy] Samchillian Anyone?

[Tom Farrand]

Recently I stumbled onto a different MIDI controller ... a
"Samchillian tip tip tip cheeepeeeee".  A bizarre name but an
interesting idea.  Details at: http://www.samchillian.com

This looks interesting to me as an alternative MIDI controller.  I was
wondering if anyone out there has made one of these critters.  If so,
would you please comment on it use and usefulness?  I think this is
interesting enough to bodge one together.  Having a PS/2 style
keyboard plug into a MIDI interface ought to be dead simple to create.
 (A PS/2 interface would be simpler to deal with than having to create
a MIDI output box that also has a USB host port.)

Although this controller is patented, the patent holder/inventor seems
more interested in people creating their own than profiting from his
endeavor.  The patent in question is 5,565,641.

The gist of the control is that "notes" are sounded relative to the
last note that was sounded.  That is, if you keep pressing the "+1"
key, notes in sequence will be sounded in order.  There are many
scales implemented and others possible.  A demo video showed some
microtonal scales in use.  PC keyboards are so cheap that hacking a
couple to obtain the requisite guts is quite inexpensive.

Thanks for the bandwidth.

Peace.
Tom Farrand