"alternative controllers"

[Puentstein at aol.com]

In a message dated 98-07-14 16:37:40 EDT, gosd at lankaster.com writes:

<< hi again synth friends,
 i've been following the discussions on ldr's and finding it very
 interesting. i've just built a light controller board which i call the
 flying saucer because of it's shape. it has 6 CdS cells ( so far ) in
 the shape of a butterfly like this:
                     x                             x
                          x                   x
                        x                       x
 it's one of my favorite controllers i have built so far. i'd like to
 discuss these and other kinds of controllers (lately i've been very
 interested in ribbon controllers) with anyone interested.happy
 synthesizing y'all
 
 >>
There are probably several ways to make a "ribbon" controller. I wonder about
using an electrical, non-moving touch-plate strip (for triggering)  and a
(live) ultrasonic (or something exotic) distance measurer aimed parallel
immediately above the strip (For pitch).  Would it work?  For now I am just
working out the touch sensor circuit...              I also liked PPerry's
idea for using two voltages on a strip (for pitch), although I haven't figured
out how to do it, yet!  With that one, maybe something like an infrared
"burglar alarm" beam might be used to detect note triggers. ( I say "trigger"
because I'm designing for my analog mono synth rather than something midi. 

RS