3 posts tagged “axis-49”

With my Axis-49 I need to:

• Translate (remap) an Axis-49 note “harmonic axis” value to a “folded-scale” (Wicki-Hayden) layout
• See what is coming in from the Axis
  
• Know how hard I had hit the key
• Double-check the note value – e.g. did I really hit a G#?

So I wrote a little program to do this magical transformation. In it, the data (midi signal) flows from “notein” (assigned to the Axis), gets tweaked a bit, the goes on to “noteout” (assigned to some instrumental sound maker). 

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Axis-49 note remapper

Max/MSP: a cute little graphical development system

Signals travel along the little wires (black lines)  connecting boxes. The boxes do things to the signals, the top is input, the bottom output.

Here’s the flow sequence:

Notein a

Gets the next midi note coming in, splits it into to 3 outputs:

• the midi note value (an integer) e.g 61 = middle C, this is what we need to translate
  
• the midi note velocity (also an integer, 0 = off, 1-127 = ppp to fff)
• the midi channel number

You can double-click on the notein box to pop up list of the midi input devices and select one.

The signals then travel along the connections (wires) to be translated. The note velocity and the channel number go straight to the noteout box unchanged. The note pitch goes to the coll object to be translated.

coll  axis49-wick

In this case the coll (collection) defined in table Axis49-wick.txt serves as a look-up table, the table is a series of paired numbers, with the input value matched to the left of the pair, the output value is the right pair value.  Thus, with pair 84, 78; an input value of 84 (musically a C-5 gets mapped to a 78 (an F# ),

This table is easily edited in MS Notepad. When Max/MSP starts up, it will read this table. If like it, the Status box will show “coll; finished, 70 lines”. If not, it will show an error message.

Input “number box”

Display (shows “C-2” ) – shows the key hit by you in terms of what the Axis-49 sent out, as a note.

Subtraction

After I wrote the table, I wanted to shift the notes down an octave,  so I added a little box that takes a number in the top, minuses it (see the little “-“ (minus) sign?) by 12 and puts it out the bottom

The 12 subtracted from the note value lowers it by an octave (12 semitones), I display the value in the little number box, but also pass it on two ways, one way goes to stripnote which strips out the note-off values – other wise the velocity would be zero when the note is lifted-  and I pass the note on to the big yellow note display boxes.

The switch box

In the center is a little switch box, which allows me to turn on or off the translation

• click the mouse on it and the little switch changes to take direct input from “notein a”.
• Click on it again to switch it back to reading the translated values from the "coll" box.

The little “value box”

This shows the midi note value as a number, not a note, for debugging. Shows (0)

stripnote

Stripnote strips out the note-off values, so they persist on the display after the finger lets up.

2 big yellow “value boxes”

I made these big displays (shows “C-2” and 0) to show the last note had hit.

noteout a

Read the 3 midi input values:  outputs:

• the midi note value (an integer)
• the midi note velocity
• the midi channel number

You can double click on the notein box to pop up list of the midi input devices and select one. 

That’s all it does – pretty simple, once you understand it.

I have many things that would be very cool to do to elaborate on this basic template:

• a note display and translate note-combinations into chords.
  This would really help when demonstrating the thing to people.
  
  
• Take a midi input file and show which keys to play on the Axis, and/or also show a music score. with
  
  
• Create some musically simplified special notes that would train the novice musician’s ear much faster than normal.  The normal piano sound is hugely complex – learning from it is like trying to first learn to drive on a 7-axle tanker-truck.  

Is anyone game to have some "fun"?
I know what needs to be done, but don't have time to do it.

Ken

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Axis49-wick.txt contains

84, 78;    80, 73;  77, 80;    73, 75;  70, 82;   66, 77;   63, 84;   59, 79;

56, 86;   52, 81;   49, 88;   45, 83;  42, 90;   38, 85;   83, 66;   79, 61;

76, 68;   72, 63;   69, 70;   65, 65;  62, 72;   58, 67;   55, 74;   51, 69;

48, 76;   44, 71;   41, 78;   37, 73;  82, 54;   78, 49;  75, 56;    71, 51;

68, 58;   64, 53;   61, 60;   57, 55;  54, 62;   50, 57;   47, 64;   43, 59;

40, 66;   36, 61;   81, 42;   77, 37;  74, 44;   70, 39;   67, 46;   63, 41;

60, 48;   56, 43;   53, 50;   49, 45;  46, 52;   42, 47;   39, 54;   35, 49;

80, 30;   76, 25;   73, 32;   69, 27;  66, 34;

I like the AXiS-49.
I give it top marks because while I have quibbles about the keys, it is the best isomorphic (translation: easy to learn & very fast to play) keyboard in the world. I've taken it as my instrument to master. 

It is light, portable and should meet my needs as the keyboard to master instead of a piano. As this is a considerable, multi-year commitment, I’ve given it a fairly close examination. Crucially, the velocity sensitivity seems quite adequate to simulate a good piano’s sound. .

It plugged in to my desktop and laptop computers and was immediately recognised. I hooked it up to Max/MSP (a midi programming system, see right) to see what it was doing, note and velocity wise. I then piped the midi signal through to Garratin Personal Orchestra (GPO) with a Yamaha grand piano sampler playing. That worked well, albeit with a bit of latency, about 1/16 of a beat (due to the layers of software, not the Axis) .

The key travel distance is sharply less that that of a piano, about that of a PC’s keyboard, and the keys “click” when pressed. They also “thunk” when they hit bottom. This is not an issue when playing loudly, but is noticeable on soft passages. I expect much of this is due to my mal-adroitness, although another mm of travel distance might have been nice. In any case, this can probably be fixed with a light felt bed and/or light wire spring under the keys … and I know where to get them.

My experience is on a homebuilt hexagonal-array keyboard with much greater spacing and a heavy 65-gram touch. The key spacing feels at first very close, but is exactly that of a PC keyboard. At first this is disconcerting, and I expect it will be to anyone with experience on a piano keyboard, perhaps not so much for those with a midi keyboard, which generally have lighter touch. On the other hand, we all are experts on PC keyboards, so the fingers should quickly adapt.
 
If you are used to a stiff piano keyboard, I warn you, be prepared for a surprise. The sharply reduced key travel and much lighter touch will come as a shock – both are nearly 1/2 to 1/3 lighter; it was easy to "peg the scale" and hit the top velocity of 127; not so easy to consistently hit 55.  It will take several months for me to get used to lightening up.
 
I quite like the bevelling on the keys - it allows key-to-key hops: nice glissandos, trills even! A whole new way of playing is possible here.

The little carrying case box it comes in is a pleasant surprise. It will come in handy. I think that I will cover mine with “Mac-Tac” (a kind of self-stick plastic wallpaper sold on hardware stores) to re-enforce it and water-proof it.
To test the crucial velocity sensitivity, which came out so unevenly in my hands, I called upon my resident professional pianist (my wife), she had no problem keeping the key velocity (loudness) even, and playing softly, so the problem, methinks, lies in my gnarled mitts.
 
On the other hand, she just could not figure out the harmonic axis layout. She has played the piano since the age of five, so the piano layout is wired down tight within her soul. She can play any song in any key (her favourite key is C-sharp!). So there is little hope of convincing her of its advantages. I, on the other hand, could at least easily play the chromatic and major scales on the Axis in any key.

Here’s a tip based on several years experience: you’ll never convince a keyboard player with 5 or more years of experience that this is a great keyboard. You usually will have great difficulty even explaining how it works. Piano teachers will universally say (if you press them for an honest opinion) “it makes it too easy” and "all the same", which is perhaps the greatest praise of all.
 
Ken

PS. On the other hand, I once showed my prototype to a gentleman who played horn in a band, and had had three years of piano. He instantly could play the thing and would have purchased it on the spot. Go figure.

Update - The AXiS-49 music controller is in my hands and works! Let the evaluation begin!

Alas, I have missed the chance to evaluate last week, when I had time off. Now I'm cramming the review in between rehearsals, now I get to look at it and not play. 

I

haven't waited so hard for a delivery since I sent away for a "flying platform" toy in kindergarden (It took two Kellogs Frosted Flakes boxtops and I had to wait for the cereal to be eaten before mom would by a second box. Two whole months is a long, looooong time when you are 5). Obviously I have yet to really grow up, but still, I've waited years for this, so perhaps I've earned a bit of slack.

From dreary slogging to ...
I once heard heard Dan Bricklin speak about one of the first demos he gave of his newly packaged VisiCalc. A businessman was there, a very well-dressed senior accountant or high-level financial advisor. After Dan gave his talk, the gentleman had a cheque ready, and the cost of the Apple computer and Dan's software was obviously not an issue. What impressed Dan, however, was that as the cheque was handed over, the man's hand shook.

Dan talked to him and discovered the man was just beside himself hoping, praying that his new spreadsheet - that Dan really saw as just a nifty new programming language and tool - would transform his job from dreary daily slogging into an satisfying adventure. And damn, the gentleman was right! For a number-cruncher, spreadsheets are like breathing;  wonderful when you consider the alternative.

Similarly, I believe there is an most excellent chance that a similar transformation is possible here. I have strong reasons to expect that the hexagonal-layout, velocity sensitive music keyboard is as great an improvement over the traditional keyboard as the first harpsichord was over the harp, a thousand years ago.

Of course, there are many things that could still be inadvertently "wrong" with the AXiS-49 for my purposes. Keyboard design is a fine, fine art, as I know well to my personal expense. For this reason, I will be not placing any bets until it is in my fingers and properly evalutated. 

Let me know what you want evaluated.

Ken Rushton, Email:  MusicScienceGuy (at) shaw.ca