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All posts for the month April, 2014

Using The LEAP Motion as a MIDI Controller

Posted by Leif Bloomquist on April 14, 2014
Posted in: Interactive Tech, MIDI, Music, Projects. Tagged: , , . 5 Comments

I’ve been captivated by the possibilities of the LEAP Motion as an input device ever since it was announced.  It’s still finding its niche, but I feel an area of huge potential is for interactive electronic music.

Photo Credit: Ars Technica

Photo Credit: Ars Technica

So, how to turn your gestures into MIDI data with the LEAP?  I’m especially interested in using it with my DAW of choice, FL Studio in Windows.  Guess what, there’s an app for that (actually several).

The main ingredients for the configuration I went with are as follows:

  1. A  LEAP Motion controller – you can get them at Best Buy or Future Shop!  It’s $79.99 US.
  2. (For Windows) The “loopMIDI” virtual MIDI loopback cable application.
  3. The GECO App by UWYN, available from LEAP’s Airspace store (part of the LEAP install).  It’s $9.99 US.

Read on for details.

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It’s Alive!   Ultimate C64C Motherboard Swap

Posted by Leif Bloomquist on April 6, 2014
Posted in: Commodore, Projects. 1 Comment
Multiple Kernels #1. The extra leads are for the DualSID.

Multiple Kernels #1. The extra leads are for the DualSID.

A couple of years ago I put together my “Ultimate Commodore 64” with multiple kernels, dual SID chips for stereo sound, reset button, USB, Ethernet, a 16GB flash drive, 4 Joystick Ports, and painted blue!  You can get more details from my presentation at World of Commodore 2011. However, I accidentally killed the motherboard recently when messing around with my RN-XV Wifi project (oops).   So, a swap was in order.

I bought a fully socketed 64C motherboard from eBay and swapped it in with the appropriate chips, then re-applied all the mods I had made.  One thing I’ve done differently this time around is to use clip leads instead of soldering to my shiny “new” motherboard.  I’ve documented the internals in pictures, it turned out pretty cool and is hopefully useful for documenting the top-side connection locations.

(Read More for pics)

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