Do music or motion with unusual inputs
Fresh News
06/2008: OSCulator has been featured in issue 14 of MAKE magazine (this month) and has been described as the ultimate tweakable gateway between your Wiimote and MIDI-controlled audio, as quoting Bill Byrne the author of this article. Of course we know that it is much more than that, he he!
Some users have been telling me that OSCulator 2.5.6 doesn't behave well with some OSC messages. Hopefully, next version will bring a host of new features, amongst them is the direct support of the TUIO protocol used in the reacTIVIsion software (remember those illuminated cubes on the table that Björk uses live?) Well, now she won't have to write a complex Max/MSP patch in order to use this protocol, because it will be much easier to do it directly in OSCulator.
There is several dozens of new features or improvements in this new version. Let's also mention that most of the code has been rewritten and is much more efficient. There are two great features I would like to tell you about: HID and Presets.
HID stands for Human Interface Device. It a protocol based on USB used for Joysticks, Mice, Keyboards, etc. that is commonly recognized by software, mostly games. Quartz Composer 3 also has a HID input component. It would be great to use any OSC compatible device, or even the Wiimote or SpaceNavigator (which are natively supported by OSCulator) and transform them into HID compliant devices, and this is exactly what you will be able to do. OSCulator exposes two virtual HID joysticks to which you can send any data, that you will then use in another HID compliant software. I have been able to play Super Mario Bros on Nestopia the old school way with the Wiimote, which really feels like a NES gamepad (a little bit heavier though). And because Quartz Composer 3 OSC input is broken, I have been able to use HID instead, which was very handy.
The new Presets feature in OSCulator is a way to store different routing configurations and change them on the fly, wether it is by sending an OSC message, or merely clicking in the new toolbar menu. By the press of a simple click, you can turn your Lemur into a sophisticated MIDI controller or a Keyboard controller. The possibilities are infinite.
This new version should be available in a few weeks. As always, I greatly appreciate your feedback, thanks.
04/2008: THANKS to everyone for your kind support!
I am collecting ideas and concepts for version 3. I would love to hear your thought about the future of OSCulator.
Also, in the view of expanding the website with useful resource, I plan to open a forum and give access to a public wiki (around next month). If anyone would like to share his/her experience about this subject, I'd love to hear your story.
Cam <camille@osculator.net>
01/2008: OSCulator 2.5 is released with many long awaited features! Key Combos, Applescript, OSC Forward, MIDI Notes with the addition of the long awaited Perfect Pairing technology that enables Wiimotes to reliably connect to the Macintosh. Check out the release notes!
01/2008: Cool article on CreateDigitalMusic.com, announcing the release of the new version.
11/2007: OSCulator has been featured on Neural.it website frontpage!
Thanks to this great review: OSCulator reaches different paradigms of composition, certainly not new, but still very flexible and with lots of potentialities, re-introducing a more physical aspect, paradoxically going back towards the traditional human act of playing an instrument, and its visual performance.
Check out the whole article here.
What is OSCulator?
Virtual-hub for devices and softwares
OSCulator is able to be used with many hardware devices and software, thanks to the OSC protocol. For example, with OSCulator, your Nintendo Wiimote can talk to major MIDI sequencers or your favorite console emulator or Kyma sound design workstation.
And using OSCulator, your Lemur can talk directly to the Kyma sound design workstation using higher bandwidth and higher resolution than MIDI controls ... with great ease of use.
Check out the videos in the FAQ to see what's possible to do with a Wiimote, Kyma and MIDI enabled devices.
K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Silly!)
OSCulator is able to communicate very easily with musical tools like Max/MSP, Logic, Live, or external synthesizers, and, in a totally different application field Keynote.
Multiple inputs, multiple outputs
OSCulator's efficient design allows many inputs and outputs to be used at once and is ready for future developments. If you can't find an extension that meets your needs, chances are your problem can be solved quickly if you kindly ask the developer!
Legal disclaimer: The author is not affiliated in any way with any company cited on this website.