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A Late Christmas Present for MIDI Nerds

By 606 (Tue Dec 26, 2006 at 11:55:09 AM EST) Nintendo Wii, MIDI, music, software, nerdery, fun loving cowqaas. (all tags)

Hi folks,

Umm. I'm not dead. Really. I've just been busy with work and some other forums and stuff. You know how it is. Yeah. Umm... well I brought you guys a present! WiiToMidi!

Ever since I bought one of those Nintendo Wiis I thought "gee, this controller is neat. I could do a lot with it if I could connect it to a PC". Eventually some people got together and wrote Bluetooth drivers for the thing so I could try and implement my crazy ideas. The result, after a few days of cursing Objective-C, is WiiToMidi.

WiiToMidi is an OS X application that converts signals from the Nintendo Wii controller (the "wiimote") to MIDI signals which you can use in sundry music programs. You can connect the Wii accelerometer traces to pretty much any MIDI controller. If you connect it to a filter you can make wah-wah noises. Connect it to a pitchbend and create a shakeable vibrato. You could even make a software maraca. Do you realize how incredible a software maraca would be?!

I believe that someone already had this going in Linux at some point, but I believe this is the first time it's been done on a Mac, and in such a simple and easy way.

So there it is. Merry (late) Christmas! Have fun!

Here is the WiiToMidi home page.

And if you love me tell all your friends, and Digg me. Please.

< Merry Christmas to all | BBC White season: 'Rivers of Blood' >

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- Here is the WiiToMidi home page
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A Late Christmas Present for MIDI Nerds | 15 comments (15 topical, 0 hidden)

Very cool idea. by ObviousTroll (4.00 / 1) #1 Tue Dec 26, 2006 at 12:09:03 PM EST

Unfortunately, I fail it on the Wii-ownership aspect - not to mention my lack of mad MIDI skillz.

--
It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.

You don't need a wii for this by theantix (2.00 / 0) #3 Tue Dec 26, 2006 at 12:58:05 PM EST

You can get the wiimote for like $40 at nintendo.com.
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I'm sorry, but your facts disagree with my opinion.

[ Parent ]

Who knows when they'll ship it by 606 (2.00 / 0) #7 Tue Dec 26, 2006 at 02:45:24 PM EST

True, you don't need the whole Wii. That said, right now it's just as hard to find a controller as it is to find a whole Wii system with controller.

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imagine dancing banana here

[ Parent ]

Well, I know this much by theantix (2.00 / 0) #8 Tue Dec 26, 2006 at 02:55:02 PM EST

On two separate occasions they shipped what I ordered from them (nunchuck, component cables) within a day or two of my order. And since I ordered rush shipping they each arrived on the 2nd and 3rd day (respectively) of my orders.

I'd say if you are looking for wii remotes, that is likely your best option. I got lucky and snagged some off amazon for the brief time they were in stock there, otherwise I would have followed my own advice too.
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I'm sorry, but your facts disagree with my opinion.

[ Parent ]

: Sweet, I am indeed looking for one by 606 (2.00 / 0) #9 Tue Dec 26, 2006 at 03:32:00 PM EST

I will try nintendo.com today!

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imagine dancing banana here
[ Parent ]

Woh. by ana

(4.00 / 1) #2 Tue Dec 26, 2006 at 12:10:39 PM EST

Wii-theramin.

Regular, or decaf abomination? --Kellnerin

It's a shame. by dark nowhere (2.00 / 0) #4 Tue Dec 26, 2006 at 01:01:11 PM EST

I take it this doesn't connect up to directional sensing at all... just the accelerometer stuff. I'd love to see this used to manipulate a virtual drumkit.

See you, space cowboy.

Maybe by 606 (2.00 / 0) #6 Tue Dec 26, 2006 at 02:43:27 PM EST

You can do directional sensing but it requires complcicated math. If anyone feels like coding those algorithms for me, let me know!

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imagine dancing banana here

[ Parent ]

wows by dark nowhere (4.00 / 1) #14 Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 03:11:56 PM EST

I see what you mean.

TBH, I think they overcomplicated it, and I would not expect that math to be used in practice because 1. it's probably better to process these things in discrete chunks, and 2. the output of one problem is fills variables for another. (I'd rather solve a lot of small things continually than one or two big things, less often.)

Actually, if you post what each sensor outputs and what it's physically monitoring I'll take a stab at making an algo out of it, assuming I can make sense of it.

See you, space cowboy.

[ Parent ]

: The code is there by 606 (2.00 / 0) #15 Thu Dec 28, 2006 at 03:55:34 PM EST

On the WiiToMidi page I posted the source code so you can open it up and take a look. There's an interface to a StateArray object that keeps track of various things. You can access the accelerometer state with the index SA_ACC_X for the X wiimote accelerometer, or SA_ACC_NZ for the nunchuk Z accelerometer, or any other X Y or Z you want. The accelerometers output values between 0 and 255, and the output from any algorithm should also be clipped to within that range. (127 is "0" I guess).
Oh, but it seems the WiiRemote.framework package has some kind of calibration functionality that I'm not using. If I use it I can probably simplify things and make the values more reliable. I haven't looked into how it works yet.

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imagine dancing banana here
[ Parent ]

Very cool by cam (2.00 / 0) #5 Tue Dec 26, 2006 at 01:56:17 PM EST

!

cam
Freedom, liberty, equity and an Australian Republic

YOU RULE!! by misslake (2.00 / 0) #10 Tue Dec 26, 2006 at 05:15:09 PM EST

wow. that's cool.

ps. did the letter that i sent to you in sept ever reach you?

It did! by 606 (2.00 / 0) #11 Tue Dec 26, 2006 at 06:34:06 PM EST

I don't know how or why exactly the post office decided to sit on that particular letter for three months but it did show up sometime mid-November. Do you think the contents will still be viable? I put it in the freezer.

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imagine dancing banana here

[ Parent ]

: only one way to be sure!! by misslake (4.00 / 2) #12 Tue Dec 26, 2006 at 06:42:13 PM EST

go on, EAT THE LETTER!

[ Parent ]

How cool are you!!! by littlestar (4.00 / 1) #13 Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 03:47:46 AM EST

Super cool - that's how cool. I want to try it, that sounds awesome. I would love to have a computer maraca. I want one. Way too cool.

Also, hugs and Merry Christmas.
*twinkle*twinkle*

A Late Christmas Present for MIDI Nerds | 15 comments (15 topical, 0 hidden)