Midimech: Wholetone Layout System and Visualizer

[flipcoder]

Hello! Almost one year with the LinnStrument and its still my favorite thing ever.

I wanted to give an update to what started as a remapper I wrote for the LinnStrument but expanded. My program gives you a diagonal version of Wicki-Hayden which is surprisingly not in common usage (?). I've been fascinated with this layout for years and didn't have a way to play it before the LinnStrument.
I couldn't even find info on people using it, only on Wicki-Hayden itself.

Layout:

Chords:

The appeal of it is that the most common chords and scales in music are extremely easy to play
and they mostly fall right across the fingers.  Notes that sound better together are closer, and notes that sound worse together are further apart.  So you end up doing piano runs just by running your fingers around a bunch of triangular shapes.  Very fun.  Chromatic and exotic scales are more difficult but I think its worth the tradeoff for me.

The program also has a MIDI visualizer which works with Synthesia and DAWs as well.

The concern I had about vibrato being sensitive at the beginning didn't manifest much
unless I had quantization off, but that's not the way I play it so it doesn't bother me.

I've gotten a lot of positive feedback from people who tried the layout/program from the
Discord so I wanted to thank everyone for the help and share it here as well and if anyone has feedback let me know.

Project Link and Video: Midimech

Cheat Sheets (work in progress):

[FranklyFlawless]

See the Striso and its note layout as a comparison. Here are a few quotes of particular interest:

This layout is closely related to the Wicki/Hayden layout and Bosanquet’s generalized keyboard.

Mathematically said, this layout is an orthogonal decomposition of the first two overtones.

[LarsDaniel]

Hi Flipcoder, just out of curiosity (as I don´t see myself using this layout): Do you use sliding on the x-axis at all with this?

[FranklyFlawless]

Hi Flipcoder, just out of curiosity (as I don´t see myself using this layout): Do you use sliding on the x-axis at all with this?

Pitch bending is configured by maintaining a 1:2 ratio from the LinnStrument to the synthesizer. On the GitHub repository, it is suggested to use +/- 24 as the pitch bend value on the LinnStrument, and +/- 48 on the synthesizer.

[LarsDaniel]

Yes, sliding is possible, but I was more interested in hearing about actual use. I imagine that this is mostly a "piano player setup", but I could be wrong.

[FranklyFlawless]

Yes, sliding is possible, but I was more interested in hearing about actual use. I imagine that this is mostly a "piano player setup", but I could be wrong.

For now, you seem to be correct. Grady currently has two YouTube video demos, one short, and the other for improvisation. Neither showcase pitch bending, even though Modartt Pianoteq is capable of such expression. There are also Soundcloud improvisations, again with no pitch bending as of yet.

You may be able to find more luck on the LinnStrument Community (Unofficial) Discord server.

[flipcoder]

Yes pitch bending works. I'll put up more videos soon. The vibrato is a little more sensitive but definitely playable.

[flipcoder]

I've been using it with SWAM, Surge, and Serum. All the X,Y,Z values come through as you'd expect but I do recommend quantization since X movements are basically double. You may find you have to keep your hand more stable but it's not been an issue for me. There's also a technique where you can slide into half steps if you wiggle your finger between two notes. The wiggling bypasses the quantization. so you can get the half step that's missing on the wholetone scale.

[John the Savage]

...which is surprisingly not in common usage? I couldn't even find info on people using it...

Chromatic and exotic scales are more difficult but I think its worth the tradeoff for me.

Well, you've answered your own question there.

It's worth noting (no pun intended) that this layout was originally conceived in an era when chromaticism was simply not used in popular music. By contrast, I literally could not do my job, as a contemporary musician, if I had to use this layout.

As I always say, however, whichever layout makes sense to you, that is the one you should use. Whatever makes you want to play.

Cheers!

[flipcoder]

...which is surprisingly not in common usage? I couldn't even find info on people using it...

Chromatic and exotic scales are more difficult but I think its worth the tradeoff for me.

Well, you've answered your own question there.

It's worth noting (no pun intended) that this layout was originally conceived in an era when chromaticism was simply not used in popular music. By contrast, I literally could not do my job, as a contemporary musician, if I had to use this layout.

As I always say, however, whichever layout makes sense to you, that is the one you should use. Whatever makes you want to play.

Cheers!

Appreciate your feedback. I've run a lot of songs through the visualizer and found them more approachable than I initially expected, even some Miles Davis and other jazz stuff which I was surprised by. You can reach chromatic passing tones with your index finger easier than Wicki-Hayden because the row above is shifted over, or using your pinky on the row below, but I understand what you're saying. After getting comfortable with the other scales the concerns I had just haven't manifested yet, so we'll see. I wouldn't be surprised if people with sufficient practice on this layout could do much more than initially expected. I'm fully aware that different layouts have both pros and cons though and it depends on the style of music. So far I love it though!

[FranklyFlawless]

Did anyone on the Discord server test and provide feedback using the 200? I am surprised functionality for it is still considered experimental since it is more common.

What exactly is the limitation referred to on the 200 when using no overlap mode?

[flipcoder]

Did anyone on the Discord server test and provide feedback using the 200? I am surprised functionality for it is still considered experimental since it is more common.

What exactly is the limitation referred to on the 200 when using no overlap mode?

I consider the program itself to still be experimental and since I only own the 128, someone else on the discord with the 200 has been testing it for me and doing debugging.

Because no overlap mode has only 128 notes, the 200 runs out of midi note numbers, so you have to enable a split on the linnstrument side to get the other notes. This is separate from the application's diagonal split which overrides the lights so you don't notice it. In the future configuration will be done automatically via MIDI commands but right now the setup is manual. (EDIT: This is only a technical limitation that makes the setup different, it should still work with all the notes).

That being said I'd love for more people with the 200 to test and let me know how it works. Feel free to message me on discord, github, or in a PM here.

[Fannon]

I've also tested it a bit (it also works with a Novation Launchpad, btw.) and it's really interesting to play with this layout.

It's very cool that you can try so many layouts with the LinnStrument. I have the feeling that the wholetone layout also brings to you think about the geometry behind music theory even more.

[drake-n]

Always cool to have options like this to get a different creative idea. Thanks for sharing!

Out of curiosity, does anyone know if anyone has made a visualizer like this that works with the default linnstrument layout or a visualizer for the linnstrument that can be customized (with different tunings, colors, offsets, etc)?

[flipcoder]

Always cool to have options like this to get a different creative idea. Thanks for sharing!

Out of curiosity, does anyone know if anyone has made a visualizer like this that works with the default linnstrument layout or a visualizer for the linnstrument that can be customized (with different tunings, colors, offsets, etc)?

I intend for this to evolve into that eventually but it's a little ways off.

Fannon is working on something like this as well that works with different layouts: viewtopic.php?t=595693&sid=2f8c8f467ff7 ... e8f21bbbaf