Operating Instructions
Motion Selector (requires Jitter)
This is the simplest program, and can be operated using a single switch.
The performer chooses when to turn pre-programmed drum tracks on and off.
Press SPACE or click on the POWER button (top centre) to start. CLICK to
turn tracks on and off.
Blue Frog
Blue Frog was specifically designed for a man who could nod his head and
operate a switch, but not in a coordinated way. It converts up and down
motion into sounds in three different voices.
Press SPACE to start the program and CLICK the mouse button repeatedly to
cycle through percussion, piano and bass guitar. MOVE the mouse pointer up
and down to play notes. Different notes can be played by moving the mouse
pointer on a vertical course to the left, right, and centre of the screen.
Honeycomb Melody
Honeycomb Melody requires more coordination between pointer motion and
button use. With it, a performer can play the notes of a scale in any key
and in eight percussive voices. The notes are laid out in such a way as to
maximise the accessibility of the most common melodic combinations.
Press SPACE or click on the POWER button to start. SELECT a key by clicking
on a note of the keyboard beneath the power button. This sets the red
hexagon to that note, and makes it the tonic or first note of the scale
(for example, C). The orange hexagon automatically becomes the second note
(D). Then, in this example, the three yellow hexagons all become E, the
greens become F, the blues G, the indigos A, the violets B and the pinks
high C, an octave above the tonic. (The grey note is a useful accidental).
Finally SELECT the instrument by clicking on the drop-down menu to the
right of the screen and you're ready to perform.
Play by moving the pointer over a coloured hexagon and clicking the mouse
button. The note will last until the mouse button is released. Holding down
the mouse button and dragging the pointer around the grid will play
multiple notes.
Head Guitar
This is an experimental mouse-controlled guitar.
Start by pressing SPACE or clicking on the POWER button. SELECT a key to
play in by clicking on the keyboard to the right of the POWER button. MOVE
the mouse pointer horizontally over the guitar "strings" to hear a chord.
REPEAT this motion at different heights to hear different chords. HOLD down
the mouse button whilst playing a chord to hear a slightly altered version
of it. Experiment with the "cut off?" box to the left of the POWER button
for different sounds.
Colour Keys
This is the most complex program and, whilst it is much harder to use than
the others, it is capable of greater musical subtlety. Sound is created by
the controlled movement of the mouse.
Start by pressing SPACE or clicking on the POWER button. SELECT key,
instrument and major/minor from the menus to the left of the POWER button.
The colour coding is the same as for Honeycomb Melody.
Perform notes by MOVING the mouse pointer vertically over one of the
coloured rectangles. The volume of the note played increases with pointer
speed, regardless of whether it is moving up or down, so a steady note of
any volume can be played indefinitely by using a smooth oscillatory motion.
All notes are silenced when the pointer horizontal motion exceeds its
vertical motion, so MOVE the pointer from left to right to change notes or
to maintain silence. Vibrato is added to a note if the mouse pointer is
moved up and down at a sufficient frequency.
The effect of the mouse button on the sound is chosen by the performer from
the menu at the top right of the screen. Experiment with what each of the
three options does.
Download all (zip file)