[sdiy] Control Interfaces (was Wakeman)

[Ingo Debus]

Rainer Buchty wrote:
> If those simultaneous parameters have to remain a certain ratio, then this
> can surely be achieved quite easily -- however, if the resulting number of
> parameters is just way to big that you physically lack the ability to
> control them.
> 
> Let's take four pressure-sensitive touch pads -- assuming that your body
> control is good enough that you can use your feet for controlling two of
> them -- and a breath controller; gives you four 3dim controllers plus
> whatever you will measure through the breath controller (breath
> speed/pressure, breath rhythm) or at least 7 individual controllers.
> 
> This brings you already pretty much into fields which some old Yogi
> masters might be able to cope with but probably not the live musician
> (who may want to keep at least the hands for actually playing the
> instrument of choice anyway).

There are no yogi skills required to control more than a few 
parameters while playing an instrument. Look for instance what violin 
or wind instrument players do all the time.

Or consider a vocoder: you can control a whole filter bank with your 
mouth. You cannot control each filter gain individually, but you can 
do a lot more than with two hands and a set of knobs.

IMHO knobs are indeed the best "programming language" (as someone else 
put it here in this thread) for a synthesizer, but there are better 
options when it actually comes to *play* the instrument. For instance 
you can vary your breath pressure much quicker and more intuitively 
than turning a knob.

Ingo