Dave Spector
Hee Joo
Jose Angel Olivares
Matthew Young
Timothy Twillman

MiXem

The MiXem is a MIDI interface that uses glowing touch-sensitive pads to trigger music loops. You control the music with MiXem!

http://pseq.blogspot.com

Classes
Introduction to Physical Computing - Wed PM (Igoe)


Six touch sensitive circles serve as a live performance interface to sequence and syncronize music loops in Ableton Live. Each circle triggers a series of loops, each with 5 pre-recorded loops. The circles are made of laser etched plexiglass, illuminated from below by tricolor LEDs that change color as the circle is touched. A sound reactive Processing sketch offers real-time visual feedback for the user.

Audience
MiXem is designed to be used by everybody, especially those with little or no musical background. MiXem can also be used in live performance for those who want the audience to see more than the artist using their laptop.

User Scenario
Each circle represents an instrument (ie Drums, Accordion, etc). When the user holds his or her hand on a circle it serves as the Instrument Selector, and the other five circles become Loop Selectors (Drum Loop 1, Drum Loop 2, etc). Pressing any of the other five circles activates that loop. The selected loop will begin playing at the start of the next musical phrase. If the user keeps his hand on the Instrument, the other circles remain Loop Selectors. Once the Instrument Selector is released any of the five circles can serve as the Instrument Selector.

Implementation
To build MiXem, we used the following:
- 6 multicolor LEDs
- 2 qprox qt140 4-channel proximity sensors
- 2 tlc5940 PWM LED drivers
- 6 3-inch, laser-cut and etched circles
- Arduino Microcontroller
- A modified hatbox
- MidiSport 2x2 Box