Re: TouchOSC / Bidule / Plugins HELP...!

[Jeff Larson <jeff.larson@sailpoint.com>]

> William Walker <billwalker@baymoon.com> wrote:

> 

> Are you mostly interested in controlling looper apps remotely, 

> effects apps remotely or using it as a secondary or principal

> instrument/sound source? 

Mostly controlling the looper, but some effects control as well.

> lastly what seems to be the fascination with trying to

> control apps on a touch screen?  

For me it is simply having a control surface that is small, wireless

and configurable so I can position the "buttons" in different ways for

different songs or switch between "pages" to control different effects

with button arrangements tailored for those effects.

> As a guitarist, I'm not really that

> excited about something I have to use my free hand to control. 

Yeah, for me this doesn't replace a footswitch.  I would still

use a footswitch for things where timing is critical and you

need to be playing when they happen, like starting/stopping 

a recording or an overdub.  The control surface is more for 

manipulating loops after they have been recorded when you

don't have to be playing.

> Having a tiny little screen to use as a

> controller seems like a recipe for for a lot of squinting. 

Agreed, some of the TouchOSC layouts are way too small to be of

practical use.  But the nice thing is that you can use their software

to design your own layouts so if you just need three big buttons and a

slider you can do that.

> And then there is the visual aspect of watching someone who 

> looks like there texting. 

I find that wearing a lot of leather and having one of those

big fans blowing on you helps offset this effect.

> My wife and I are needing new phones and I would go the way of

> an I phone if I really felt that the extra expense was warranted. 

Whether or not you end up using it for music, if you're thinking

about a "smart phone" that requires a data plan like a Blackberry or I

guess one of the new Windows phones I would think hard about getting

an iPhone instead.  You might pay a little more for the hardware up

front, but in the long run you're still going to be paying at least 

$15 a month for data and you will find many more interesting uses

for that data money with an iPhone.  I mean come on...how have

you lived this long without iFart?

Second choice would be an Android phone, they're #2 but gaining fast.

Jeff