The Wiinstrument

From WiiLi

The Wiinstrument is an application for Mac OS X 10.4 which analyzes Wiimote and Nunchuk moves and allows you to play MIDI notes by using the controllers like drum sticks. It's based on the DarwiinRemote Framework.

1 History
2 Description of the software
3 Disclaimer
4 See Also
5 External links

[edit] History

Release: September 10, 2007, version 0.2 (beta) — Download
Bugfix release: April 16, 2007, version 0.1.1 (beta) — Download
First release: April 8, 2007, version 0.1 (beta)

[edit] Description of the software

[edit] Requirements

Wiimote.
Nunchuk (optional).
Software or hardware with MIDI-compatible input (optional)
Bluetooth enabled Mac with at least OS X 10.4 installed.

Once the application is installed, activate your bluetooth, launch it and have the program sync with the Wiimote (by pressing the 1 and 2 buttons simultaneously). Once the connection has been made and you have selected the MIDI output device by pressing '+'/'-', you can start playing MIDI notes in the 'Drumstiicks' and 'Kiiboard' modes (switch between modes with the 'Home' button on your Wii remote).

To use it together with locally installed software (e.g. Logic), open Apple's Audio and MIDI Configuration (located in your Utility Application Folger), enable the 'IAC driver' (Apple's loopback MIDI device) and put it on the first place in the list. In your sequencer software, you'll get a new IAC MIDI input device that's now connected to The Wiinstrument.

[edit] Features

A graphical interface with OpenGL graphics.
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.
It's Open Source and free.
Mapping of tilt angles to MIDI control change instructions
It's designed to be portable, so it is easy to port it onto other platforms like Linux or Windows. A Linux port is already in development by screenfashion.org and will be available together with a Windows port before end of september 2007.

[edit] 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 (since 0.2)
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 :)

[edit] 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. To fix this, close other applications and use a software that doesn't lag when processing MIDI input.

[edit] Disclaimer

The Wiinstrument is an UNSTABLE and EXPERIMENTAL software. The authors assume no responsibility whatever for its use by other parties, and makes no guarantees, expressed or implied, about its quality and reliability.