screenfashion

Old computer + old TFT + some Ruby = Fancy departures board display for my home :)

2008-05-25T20:19:07Z

As I live in Berlin and student tickets are cheap, I have no need for a car and use only public transport for getting from A to B. The only problem is that I can't remember the departure times of all those trains and buses... Saturday at about 5 p.m. I decided that I really needed a fancy, realtime-updated display with the departure times of the nearby bus and S-Bahn railway stations. A few hours of hacking later (and 15 minutes today for assembling) everything was finished :) Now I won't miss my trains anymore at the station. And if it's delayed, I won't be too early at the station for nothing (the departure times are also correctly updated in this case). Used tools: A milk-glass cabinet door from IKEA as table, An old G4 PowerBook, an old 15" TFT, (don't laugh) the MiniKidsGames framework (based on RubyCocoa), around 80 lines of Ruby code and some XML/XPath queries for parsing output from VBB online with the REXML library.

Interview on laptoprockers.eu

2008-01-14T16:10:21Z

laptoprockers.eu is a hip tech blog aimed at digital music producers. They have published an interview with us. There you can find out more about the history of The Wiinstrument—and how it works :)

How to: Bluesoleil and The Wiinstrument on Windows

2007-11-29T22:01:13Z

Here is a guide for all Windows users that explains how to connect your Wiimote to the BlueSoleil stack to use it with The Wiinstrument. Step 1: Get all the essentials. You'll need The Wiinstrument for Windows, the Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable, the Bluesoleil Stack (you need version 5 for Windows Vista, but version 4 should work for XP as well), a compatible bluetooth device and a Wiimote + Nunchuk ;)

Step 2: Installation.

Connect your bluetooth dongle to a USB port and ignore the Windows driver setup screen. Install the Bluesoleil software and the Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable. Just follow the on-screen instructions. Then, unzip The Wiinstrument to a folder of your choice.

Step 3: Connecting your Wiimote.

Right click the bluetooth icon in your task bar. From the pop-up menu choose "Turn on Bluetooth". There should be a "Bluetooth Places" icon on your desktop. Click it. Before we can connect the Wiimote, we need to discover and add it to our bluetooth places. This needs to be done once for all Wiimotes you are planning to use. Just click the "Search Devices" icon. A flashlight will indicate that the software is searching for bluetooth devices. Now press buttons "1" and "2" on your Wiimote. This will bring the Wiimote into discovery mode, so that the bluetooth software can find it. After a few moments, a configuration dialog should appear. Follow the instructions and complete the configuration. A new bluetooth device, called "Nintendo RVL-CNT-01", should be on your bluetooth places now. If you have problems getting your Wiimote connected, try pressing "1" and "2" on your 'mote first and then click on the "Search Devices" icon. Right click on the icon and choose "Connect". A window should pop up, stating that the software is trying to connect to the Wiimote. Again press "1" and "2" at your Wiimote. If the connection attempt was successful, the blue parts of the "Nintendo RVL-CNT-01" and the "My Device" icon should turn green and the Wiimote's LEDs keep flashing. That's it! You can now start the Wiinstrument executable and start drumming ;) Tobias from screenfashion.org]]>

The Wiinstrument and OS X Leopard (New Release)

2007-11-23T18:55:16Z

If you have an Intel mac and Mac OS X Leopard, we've got a new release of The Wiinstrument for you.

Download The Wiinstrument 0.2b1151 for Intel macs with Leopard here.

Like the last Windows release, this version is an in-between release on the way to version 0.3, aimed at people who switched to MacOS X Leopard lately. It's not working on PowerPC processors, but the next release should work on PPC again. This build includes a new, experimental UI for the DrumStiicks (MIDI) mode, shown on the image above. Have fun with it! :) Sebastian / screenfashion.org Update: It seems that this version works only on Intel machines with Leopard installed. We're working on a fix, till then, try one of the old versions that are mentioned in the comments...

Wiimote drumming with your Windows PC: The Wiinstrument 0.2.1 Released

2007-11-13T11:46:52Z

Good things come to those who wait.

Well, unfortunately it took us a lot more time to port "The Wiinstrument" to Windows than promised, but polishing the UI for the Microsoft OS required some extra work. Thanks to Sebastian, who has created some nifty bitmaps and UI changes. The Wiinstrument UI looks equally great on all platforms now. Credits fly also out to Julian, who has put some extra effort into a redesign of the Gosu library, which now supports OpenGL under Windows. The Wiinstrument 0.2.1 is an in-between release, so you'll get to experience some nice features originally planned for version 0.3 (see the changelog for more infos), but many of the really great things are still missing. Visit SourceForge and download the first Windows release of The Wiinstrument!]]> Changelog

[new] The Wiinstrument is now working under Windows. (tobias)
[new] Support for dynamic drum set loading. (tobias)
[better] Tilt-2-MIDI: Send switches to 'off' automatically when changing the CC number to avoid destruction of target device settings (sebastian)
[better] Better error handling on startup
[better] Replaced button texts by bitmaps, some UI polishing
[better] Added mutexes to getAxisHistory and pushAxisValue, to prevent race coditions. (tobias)
[fixed] Fixed "Error in line 154" problem (sebastian)
[fixed] Empty text fields on Confiiguration screen (sebastian)

How to use The Wiinstrument under Windows.

This is a short guide on how to use The Wiinstrument on a windows system. I'll make a more detailed one in the next days.

Extract the zip file.
If you don't use Visual C++ 2005, you'll need to download the Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable. The x86 version can be found here.
Connect your Wiimote to your preferred Bluetooth stack. Using Microsoft's bluetooth stack (the one that is included in Windows) could be a little bit difficult, so I'd recommend the one from Bluesoleil, either version 4 or 5.
Start the Wiinstrument executable.
Have fun! ;)

How to create a custom drum set.

Go to the "Drum Sets" folder, inside your Wiinstrument folder.
Create a new folder and name it. The folder name, will be the drum set name in The Wiinstrument.
Copy exactly seven WAV files into the new folder. These will be placed on the different buttons on your Wiimote, where the first file will be on D-Pad up, the second one on D-Pad down and so on.
Start The Wiinstrument and go to the internal sampler. Use left and right D-Pad buttons to change through your drum sets.
Have fun! ;)

MoteDaemon integrates Wiimotes in your Flash app (OSX)

2007-09-26T10:04:34Z

You are using Flash, Director, or Flex on a macintosh and want to use Wii remote input for your application? Till now, there was only one solution: Switching to Windows and using the WiiFlash API. Now, there's another possibility: MoteDaemon. MoteDaemon discovers Wii remotes in range, connects to them and listens on a TCP socket for incoming connections from your Flash/Flex application. When your application is connected, it instantly receives Wiimote motion and button data in a simple XML format. We decided to provide all sources and a little example Flash application for free. The XML parser is encapsulated in a little class, so it should really be straightforward to use. Have fun with it!

Download it

The application including sources is available as a ZIP archive on SourceForge.

How about WiiFlash app compatibility?

We've already contacted the WiiFlash team—as soon as we get a short documentation of their binary data format, we'll make MoteDaemon compatible to WiiFlash client applications so that they can also run on MacOS X.

Beta

The software is still in beta stage. If you find a bug, we'd be happy if you could report it to us by mail. Crash reports are most helpful when they contain a stack trace to find out where the application crashed exactly: Just include your ~/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/MoteDaemon.crash.log file in the report for this.

The Wiinstrument 0.2 for Linux and Mac

2007-09-18T16:49:39Z

Hi, It's finally done. You can download the latest version of The Wiinstrument for Mac OS X and Linux as well as the C++ sources at SourceForge. The Linux version can be found here and the Mac OS X version here (the application) and here (source code as Xcode project folder). (Update: Release 0.2b745 fixes a bug and should now work on Intel macs!)]]> Changelog

[new] The Wiinstrument is now working under Linux. (tobias)
[new] Included "DrumStiicks w/ sampler" mode with own preliminary Audio sampler - not finished yet! (tobias)
[new] Added a Tilt-to-MIDI feature. Controller tilt angles are now mappable to MIDI controllers (with jitter correction). (sebastian)
[new] Joystick-to-MIDI support. (sebastian)
[new] Configurable MIDI channels for each instrument mode. (sebastian)
[new] Added a simple, easily extensible GUI for configuration. (sebastian)
[new] Included an automatic crash report feature. Please make use of it! (sebastian)
[new] Battery status display (sebastian)
[new] Joystick display on Confiiguration screen (tobias)
[new] Superfluos visual effects! (sebastian)
[better] Faster processing in Drumstiicks mode. (sebastian)
[better] Clarified license. The Wiinstrument is now licensed under GPL. (sebastian)
[better] Balanced Nunchuk and Wiimote acceleration differences when applying the same force to both controllers (sebastian)
[better] The executable is now about 10 times smaller (Éwhich saves me web server traffic) (sebastian)
[better] New version number scheme (main version+release number+release state+build number) (sebastian)
[better] Version display (sebastian)
[fixed] Kiiboard mode doesn't send more note-ons than needed anymore (sebastian)
[fixed] Corrected note display (sebastian)
[fixed] fixed an issue when no MIDI device is available when starting (sebastian)

Compiling The Wiinstrument on Linux

There are two ways to compile the version for Linux:

Using KDevelop

Just start KDevelop, load the project file and compile. After that copy libfmod-3.75.so from wiinstrument/fmodapi/api to /usr/lib/.

Using make

Goto wiinstrument/ and start ./configure. Copy the folders

wiinstrument/lib/boost/ 
wiinstrument/lib/Gosu/

as well as the files from

wiinstrument/lib/Gosu/gcc/ 
wiinstrument/lib/portmidi/
wiinstrument/lib/glew/
wiinstrument/lib/drums/
wiinstrument/lib/libcwiid/

to wiinstrument/src/. Goto wiinstrument/ again, start make and watch it compiling ;) Afterwards, copy libfmod-3.75.so from wiinstrument/fmodapi/api/ to /usr/lib/ The executable file should now be at wiinstrument/scr/debug/.

WARNING! (regarding the Linux version) You have to press 1 + 2 on your Wiimote as soon as you start the application (even bevor the application window pops up). After a few seconds, the application window should show. If you can see the configuration screen and the two outer LEDs of your wiimote are glowing, the wiimote successfuly connected with The Wiinstrument. If the window shows a screen ordering you to press 1 + 2 on your wiimote, something went wrong. I recommend starting the application from a terminal window, so you can see the debugging messages. This is a temporary flaw and will change in a later version. Have fun, Tobias and Sebastian

Wii remote + Garageband = <3 (Howto)

2007-09-10T08:40:58Z

Playing drums with your Wii remote in GarageBand? No problem. Here's how you do it…]]> The Wiinstrument 0.2+, a Mac with Bluetooth and Apple's GarageBand installed, and a Nintendo Wii remote. For a better feeling, a Nunchuk extension controller is recommended.)

Step 1: Start and configure GarageBand

First, start GarageBand. In the lower right corner of the GarageBand window, you should see a small button with an "information" symbol: Clicking on this button opens the track information panel. Choose “Drum Kits” on the left panel (1), then click on one of the available drum kits (2). I recommend “Rock Kit”, as this kit features a high quality drum set that sounds almost like a real one:

Step 2: Configure MIDI

To be compatible to typical electronic musical hard- and software, The Wiinstrument outputs MIDI. To reroute this MIDI output signal into GarageBand's virtual MIDI-in jack, you have to set up a so-called “loopback device”. Luckily, MacOS X already has a MIDI loopback device built-in. Find the Audio/MIDI Setup application (e.g. via Spotlight) and open it. To enable the loopback device, double click on “IAC Driver”: Then enable the device by activating the “Device is online” checkbox: Click on “Apply” and close the Audio/MIDI setup windows.

Step 3: Delete Wii remote connections

Connecting Wii remotes to a Macintosh is sadly not officially supported by Apple and Nintendo—therefore, the following procedure is sometimes necessary to make sure that the connection really works. You have to delete existing Wii remote Bluetooth connections. Go into System Preferences and click on “Bluetooth”: To put the Bluetooth kernel gods in a merciful mood, look for devices with the name “Nintendo RVL-CNT-01” in the appearing list (1) and delete 'em all (2): Click on “Disconnect and delete” if you get a message like this: You're almost done…

Step 4: Connect the Wii remote

Now you're ready to start The Wiinstrument. Be sure to have your Wii remote at hand, as you have only 20 seconds to connect your Wii remote after the application starts. Follow the instruction and press 1+2 on your Wii remote at the same time. After some LED blinking, The Wiinstrument should receive the first data from the remote and change to the Confiiguration screen. If you have a Nunchuk extension controller, be sure to connect it to your Wii remote before pressing 1+2. If you're unlucky and the connection fails (because you have waited to long or because the Bluetooth gods didn't receive your prayers), repeat step 3. If you've got a single processor machine, this may even be necessary multiple times, but don't panic: if you get a connection, everything is stable (at least as long as your Wii remote batteries last).

Step 5: Using The Wiinstrument

As mentioned, you should see the Confiiguration screen now: Here you can setup how the Wiinstrument works. You can use Up, Left, Down and Right on the D-pad to navigate between the graphical elements and Plus, Minus, or the A button to change the values. By pressing the Home button, you can change between the different modes of The Wiinstrument: But let's keep an eye on the Confiiguration screen first. On the right side, you see the data that the accelerometers supply. Navigate to the MIDI device field and press A until the field displays “IAC driver bus 1” (if not already chosen by default). Don't touch the other settings yet. Press Home to get into the Drumstiicks (MIDI) screen. In this mode, The Wiinstrument recognizes drumming gestures and sends appropriate MIDI notes. If everything went well, you have a new percussion instrument in your hands: Just beat into the air with your controllers. If you beat harder, the sound intensity increases. The screen also displays how to change played notes. You can assign each controller individually. If you want to know which MIDI note means what in GarageBand's drum kit, consult this listing. Have fun! Sebastian

We're back from IFA 2007

2007-09-05T19:06:37Z

Hi, We are back from IFA 2007 fair in Berlin. We were not really prepared for the interest that The Wiinstrument has produced, but everything went very well—The software appears to be really stable once a Wii remote is connected. As I was forced to practice eight hours per day while demonstrating The Wiinstrument's capabilities, my rhythm skills seem to have really improved… :) Thanks to all visitors of our stand at IFA fair, your feedback is invaluable! If you have any further questions, feel free to ask. A release of version 0.2 for MacOS X, Linux and Windows will be available in a few days on this page. Meanwhile you could try the old 0.1 release (OSX only)… If you consider buying a Bluetooth dongle for connecting a Wii remote on Windows, please consult the WiiLi wiki first—some Bluetooth devices seem to be incompatible to Wii remotes. External material The Wiinstrument as background music: Short video clip of cczwei (ex WDR computerclub) visiting IFA An interview with ‘Handelsblatt’ An interview with techvideoblog.com Some images of the event (Thanks to Robert, a fellow student at University of Potsdam, who took the photos) Bye, Sebastian and Tobias / screenfashion.org

The Wiinstrument Video on YouTube

2007-07-28T18:45:34Z

I'm not a drummer, but I think the instrument is real fun if you practice a bit. We're still working on 0.2 – expect a release soon! 0.2 will be released with the following features (among others): - Use pitch and roll rotation axes of Wii remote and Nunchuk as MIDI controllers - A better graphical frontend - a tiny sampler (load own WAV files into the Wiinstrument instead of a MIDI setup)]]> We've uploaded a short video with me playing The Wiinstrument's Drumstiicks mode [video embedded in the entry]…

Wiinstrument Linux release up ahead

2007-06-28T10:34:03Z

Hi fellow wiinstrumenters, Yesterday I finally finished the major work on the Linux version of The Wiinstrument. So just a little more bug hunting before a release will be done. Stay tuned! ;)

A new way to control MIDI with your Wii remote

2007-04-08T17:15:07Z

Update: 0.1 is an old release. A newer one is available here: The Wiinstrument 0.2b713. Be also sure to check out our GarageBand+Wiinstrument tutorial!

Hi everybody.

Ever wanted to have a cheap external MIDI controller that's wireless? Or to play a groovy drum loop in your sequencer without having to set note delays manually? Then the following blog entry may be for you.

Having released the Wiinstrument on Breakpoint '07 in Bingen am Rhein, we decided to share a preliminary version of the software with you.

The Wiinstrument is basically a MIDI instrument that is controlled by a connected Nintendo Wii remote (with a Nunchuk controller, if available). The controller is available separately and can be connected to your computer via Bluetooth.

It features:

A graphical interface with OpenGL graphics.
Two modes (with awful puns in their namings! \o/)
Percussion mode: Smack both controllers to trigger MIDI notes (with velocity recognition)
Keyboard mode: button presses are mapped directly to MIDI notes. Various scales (chromatic, blues, minor, major) are available so that you're even able to play melodies on it.
Open Source: It doesn't cost anything and everyone can implement new features!
It's designed to be portable, so it should be easy to port it onto other platforms like Linux or Windows.

Application examples:

Record groovy MIDI drum patterns directly in your software sequencer! (using a loopback MIDI device)
Control your MIDI compatible VJ or lighting setup with it!
Tape it onto your e-guitar and control your guitar effects hardware by tilting your guitar!
Use it for whatever you would use a hardware MIDI controller - but cheaper (a Wii remote costs about 40 EUR/USD)—and it's wireless :)

It's currently available for MacOS X 10.4.9—We're already porting it to Linux...

Known Issues:

The Wii remote may not always be recognized, as it identifies itself as Bluetooth HID device, but doesn't follow the HID specs. Apple's Bluetooth department seems to be working on making the Bluetooth implementation compatible to Wii remotes so that the OSX kernel driver doesn't try to make a concurrent connection to the Wii remote to an application. The result has been announced to be included in Leopard, so stay tuned :)
If you don't get a connection to the Wii remote when starting the Wiinstrument, don't panic: Just go to your Bluetooth system preferences, remove the connection to "RVL-CNT-01" manually and retry the connection (We're working on a simpler connection procedure...)
The graphical user interface is preliminary, a better looking one is in development.
Sometimes the MIDI output lags. We're working on a fix for that.
Mapping acceleration sensor axes to MIDI control change instruction isn't implemented yet.
If the application closes unexpectedly, please report it together with the content of your ~/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/The Wiinstrument.crash.log file so we can fix the problem.

Just download it and enjoy.

To connect it to your sequencer/sampler, start Apple's Audio/MIDI Setup tool (you can find it in the Utilities subfolder of your Applications folder), activate the IAC device (Apple's loopback MIDI device) and drag it to the first place of the shown device list. You'll see a new IAC MIDI input device in your sequencer then.

Any comments and reports are appreciated :) If you have a problem that's not addressed in the known issues above, please write us which platform you are working on.

Additional credits go to: survivor/screenfashion for the Gosu library. Hiroaki for the Darwiin Remote framework. Tobias Moebert for porting the application to Linux. The PortMidi and Boost library staff. Rest of the Breakpoint '07 staff for the wonderful party. Bye .o/ [Update on Apr 16, 2007] Linked 0.1.1 (bugfix release).