| This isn't exactly a revolutionary concept. Onyx Ashanti[0][1][2] has built an entire performance around it (literally, the the whole system is custom built). And on a sort of parallel track, nerds like Herrmutt Lobby and DZA have done some really remarkable things pushing the boundaries of what can be done with off the shelf MIDI gear[3] as well as with game controllers[4]. Perhaps Mi.Mu will be the best execution of a MIDI/OSC glove to date—it will probably have to be if it's going to make it on stage with performers like Imogen Heap and Tim Exile. I will say, sometimes an encoder is exactly what you need. Other times what you need is a long throw fader (to say nothing of the very particular engineering of crossfaders for scratch DJs). I hope designers and engineers continue to experiment in this space, but not every conventional interface needs 'disrupting', and they certainly don't all need to be made wireless. I always feel a bit annoyed when these developments are framed as a breaking down of walls between performer and audience, a paradigm shift away from the dark ages of electronic musicians hunched over banks of knobs and 'checking their email'. It's a cliché, and I'm not even sure it maps to reality all that well. I'm fairly certain Miles Davis spent the majority of his time on stage looking at piano keys. And if not there, at his collaborators. Maybe occasionally a glance towards the audience. Maybe. Stevie Wonder never looked at anybody. It never mattered, because that was never the point. [0]http://createdigitalmusic.com/2012/11/way-out-from-behind-th... [1]http://createdigitalmusic.com/2012/10/open-source-music-berl... [2]http://createdigitalmusic.com/2013/04/fractals-bots-nodes-an... [3]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zN7Pjwjcp0 [4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQaMW_5oxyg |