Technological and Computer-based Projects

Ribbon Controllers
tactile control interface
concept & planning: David Schmüdde & Charlie Williams
design: David Schmüdde
implementation: David Schmüdde & Charlie Williams

completed

With Chicago-based sound artist and filmmaker David Schmüdde, I set out to construct a digital instrument controller that satisfies one specific condition: the instrumentalist can play it with closed eyes. "Eyes-free" is the new "Hands-free", at the Media Lab (Feldman, Merrill, Mistry, Kalanithi) and elsewhere, and the rigors of live performance necessitated that we be able to connect with the audience, with other band members, or with a misbehaving computer while continuing to perform. The songs we wrote together for our band Mira Mira are delicately constructed, like chamber music, and can cease to be musically coherent if a part is missing.

After some research, Schmüdde and I settled on Doepfer's ribbon controllers and R2M interface. Transmitting control voltage on two channels— position and pressure— a pair of the ribbons allows for control over four parameters with two hands, double that of a knob-based interface. And the ribbons are naturally "eyes-free": you don't have to look at them to feel how hard you're pressing, and their 24-inch length makes it easy to tell the position when touching them based simply on arm extension. The R2M interface translates the control voltage to MIDI according to its current configuration, allowing for pitch bend, chromatic or diatonic scales, or even various arpeggios as output. Additionally, they can output the control voltage directly, which would be useful for controlling analog synths.

The ribbons are mounted on hand-built wooden stands that attach to a stereo bar on a microphone stand, allowing adjustable height, width and angle with road-ready off-the-shelf components. In performance they control two hardware rackmount synths, as well as a battery of sounds in Apple's Logic Pro software. The ribbon controllers have been a signature part of Mira Mira's live shows since their completion, and are heard on the 2009 album Music for Scientists.