Hello all,
I found this site in regards to a fairly new instrument/control device. It is called a Momome:
http://monome.org/
I accidentally came across it on You Tube, here is a video of one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0A8xR8ieek
Here is one controlling a circuit bent Speak & Spell:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OcEcgpwXTs
I think this unit is wild, but apparently the unit fetched quite a price tag if you look it up on Ebay (over $1000). As far as I know the unit can work in Windows, Mac, and Linux. It uses OpenSource Control (or OSC).
Supposedly the reason why the item is expensive is that the monome site produces them from time to time.
It looks like pretty advanced stuff...but on the surface the device seems like a glorified sequencer of sorts.
I am curious to see if anyone else has any experience working with these devices...or better yet has come up with a cheaper alternative.
Geo
Momome--What is it really?
Moderators: MattKingUSA, khz
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studio32
Re: Momome--What is it really?
I got one of those (a "40h" to be exact), and I'm using it with GNU/Linux. 
It's actually quite WYSIWYG: buttons and leds (and maybe accelerometers).
It doesn't produce any sound on its own - and every semantic logic of btns and leds is handled completely on the software side (currently mainly Max/MSP.
)
You need a small application that converts its native serial protocol to e.g. OSC or MIDI, but luckily there is one for GNU/Linux now: serial-pyio
(there wasn't when I bought mine, so I had to write one)
I'm using it with pd (pure data) and ReBirth (the only non-free part in my setup, but I can't replace it yet) using wine - to control the drum sequencers and delay/distortion effects realtime for live performances. Really nice!
The price might seem a bit expensive, but consider the individual parts and the time you'd need to assemble it. In my case it turned out that I was better off getting one directly from monome.org (They're really nice people and I think they deserve some money for their efforts).
Additionally, there are DIY kits available - and if you check the community forums you'll find plenty of infos about "rolling your own monome" - and similar devices (e.g. arduinome). Blueprints, protocol specs, firmware etc. is freely available from monome.org.
Code is GPL.
If you have any more questions, just ask.
It's actually quite WYSIWYG: buttons and leds (and maybe accelerometers).
It doesn't produce any sound on its own - and every semantic logic of btns and leds is handled completely on the software side (currently mainly Max/MSP.
) You need a small application that converts its native serial protocol to e.g. OSC or MIDI, but luckily there is one for GNU/Linux now: serial-pyio
(there wasn't when I bought mine, so I had to write one)
I'm using it with pd (pure data) and ReBirth (the only non-free part in my setup, but I can't replace it yet) using wine - to control the drum sequencers and delay/distortion effects realtime for live performances. Really nice!
The price might seem a bit expensive, but consider the individual parts and the time you'd need to assemble it. In my case it turned out that I was better off getting one directly from monome.org (They're really nice people and I think they deserve some money for their efforts).
Additionally, there are DIY kits available - and if you check the community forums you'll find plenty of infos about "rolling your own monome" - and similar devices (e.g. arduinome). Blueprints, protocol specs, firmware etc. is freely available from monome.org.
Code is GPL.
If you have any more questions, just ask.