Snarp

15/05/2023

New MusiKraken iOS release (version 1.51):
I have taken everything appart since the last release, rewrote the MIDI handling and a lot of other things and started redesigning the interface. There will (hopefully soon) be a release with all the new features, but I decided to do this in two steps, so that I can some of the features can already be used.

In this release, you can already:
-Use the new Headphone Motion module to make music using the AirPods (I called it "headphone motion" and not AirPods because a few more headphones support this, but I guess most people will use AirPods for this). The Headphone Motion modules have ports that send the current head rotation plus ports for the accelerometer values. So you can for example modulate the sound with your head while playing the keyboard (similar to using the face tracking), or you can combine it with the Threshold module to make music while headbanging...

-Select from more templates to split the main screen into multiple parts. You can now for example have three rows of keyboards each controlling a different instrument (probably only makes sense on larger iPads), or have two rows with two columns each. And you can hide the top bar if you don't need it. I made the top bar a bit larger so that it is more useful on phones, now that it can be hidden.

-MPE mode in input module: You can now connect an MPE keyboard (or whatever) and set the input module to MPE mode (in the settings). The MPE mode will filter out all MPE events that are per-note events, so Pitch-Bend, Channel Pressure and CC74 events, and send them through the three new ports of the input module instead (mpePitchBend, mpePressure and mpeCC74). It will also generate a per-keyboard event out of these (which is the maximum current value of all notes, so for example the note that has the most pressure applied).
This way you can control whatever you want with MPE, not just MPE instruments. For example assign CC 1 (modulation) to the pressure port and control the modulation of any instrument. Or route it through the Chord Splitter to control CC 1 of multiple instruments per-note simultaneously.

-Gyroscope support in Game Controllers: PS4 and PS5 game controllers contain gyroscopes. So far I had only exposed the accelerometer values, but now you can also use the current rotation of the device. There is a large reset button to reset the current values to 0, and the rotation rate is added to these values to get something similar to the current rotation. The sensors are not perfect and if you rotate too fast, the zero-positions will no longer be at the same place, but it still can be useful (there is no magnetometer in the game controllers to make this better).

-Touchpad visuals: The touchpad now shows each finger position. I am currently working on making all visualisaitons nicer, but I forgot to hide that in the Touchpad, so it is already included in this release (there will be more options, including the option to deactivate this, in the next release).

-Many small changes: I honestly lost track of all the changes I did in this version, as I just implemented anything that I felt like changing, and didn't create a list of all changes (this is my free-time project, after all, so I can do chaotic things like this...). So there are more changes than the ones listed above, but I have also hidden a lot of almost-finished features that will be included in the next release...

04/07/2022

https://youtu.be/ktI4xH_4DJU

You can now use Game Controllers as input devices for MusiKraken on iOS and Android!

Assign chords to each button, or generate notes, control change, pitch bend or channel pressure events with the thumbsticks or analogue buttons.

Playstation controllers (PS4 and PS5) also have accelerometers, changeable lights (you can assign a light to each button) and touchpads that support up to two fingers.

Restrictions: Game Controllers cannot be used while the app is in the background. And if you have an Audio Unit view open, and tap into it, the Game Controller events will no longer be sent to MusiKraken. Simply close the Audio Unit view to get the events again (and as long as you do not interact with the Audio Unit, you can keep it open).

You can now use Game Controllers as input devices for MusiKraken on iOS and Android!Assign chords to each button, or generate notes, control change, pitch be...

01/05/2022

https://youtu.be/cKjalyiqUNI

I added Apple Watch support to MusiKraken. You can use the motion sensors, heart rate, an XY-pad and the digital crown of the watch to mix with the other features of MusiKraken.

MusiKraken now also supports background audio. That means you can route MIDI through MusiKraken while another app is in the foreground, or make music while the display is off. You cannot use any of the camera features and (obviously) no touch while the app is in the background, but you can use the motion sensors, microphone, Apple Watch and external MIDI devices that are connected to MusiKraken.

And there is now also a MIDI-to-value converter that can be used to convert MIDI events from external devices into the internal MusiKraken system.

And you can now create your own scales by selecting the notes.

MusiKraken now supports Apple Watch! You can use the motion sensors, heart rate, an XY pad and the digitial crown as input to generate MIDI events and make m...

26/04/2022

After adding many new features throughout the year, it was time for a new trailer for MusiKraken. Here it is...

Because MusiKraken has so many new features, it was time for a new trailer. Here you can see a few examples of what you can do with the app.iOS:https://apps....

15/12/2021

https://youtu.be/8CwB7IZWcTU

For the one-year aniversary update of MusiKraken, I added 7 new effects that can be combined with all existing modules:
-Beat: Convert fast value changes to short notes. By combining this with the various input modules, you can for example play drums by shaking (Accelerometer) or rotating (Motion Sensor pitch) your device or by punching in the air (body or hand tracking). You can also connect any MIDI output port to the note input port to for change the note (or chord) the beat is played on. This way you can for example use a second value output to control the note height.

-Threshold: This starts playing a note when the connected value goes over a threshold, and stops it again if the value goes back again. So you can control the note length this way and is combinable with any of the input modules, so many new input controls become possible. This also outputs two new values while the note is being played: The intensity value is defined by how far the value is from the threshold. And the sideIntensity is defined by the sideValue input from another module. Once the note starts, the sideValue at that moment is stored and the difference to this stored value is sent to the sideIntensity output. This way you can for example control pitch bend with a second input value.

-Speed: This measures the change speed of one value and sends that out to the valueOut port. So for example if you move the fingers on your touchpad quickly, the value goes up, and if you move slowly, the value goes down. You can also route MIDI note events through this, and each time the direction of your value changes (for example if the fingers on the touchpad change the movement direction), these active notes will be retriggered. Which is useful for example for rebowing in violin VSTs. You of couse can combine this with any value conversion, so for example you can create a setup where shaking the device (Accelerometer) increases the note height.

-Envelope: This uses a simple ADSR (attack, decay, sustain, release) Envelope as used in synthesizers, but applies it to an output value. So every time you send a MIDI note event into its MIDIIn port, the value goes up to 1 in the attack time, goes down to the sustain value in the decay time, and stays at the sustain value until you stop the note again, in which case it will go down to 0 during the release time. If you route the MIDI events through this module, it will also keep the last note alive until the release time is finished.

-LFO: This creates a Low Frequency Oscillator, and sends the computed values out of the value out port. This makes it possible to for example control vibrato using one of the input modules. The middle value, the frequency and the amplitude can be controlled by separate inputs. If no port is connected to one of these input ports, then the module uses the default value for that, which is the minimum value in the settings.

-Latch: Very simple module: Keeps notes alive when a note is started, and stops it again if the same note is played again.

-Arpeggiator: A simple arpaggiator with the usual patterns, selectable velocities for each step. You can also define how many times a note is repeated and if notes of additional octaves should be filled in. And by connecting anything to the multiplier input port, you can control by how much all velocities are multiplied. By combining multiple arpeggiators (and maybe with other effects like the chord splitter, the channel switcher and the transposer), you can create complex setups.

MusiKraken now has 7 new effects:-Beat: Convert fast value changes to short notes. By combining this with the various input modules, you can for example play...

03/05/2021

I now added the probably least useful module for serious music making to MusiKraken. But you can jump around and make music at the same time, so it is a lot of fun and useful to control MIDI expression values. I present to you, the BODY POSE TRACKER.

The app tracks the positions and movements of your hands, feet and head and, as always with Musikraken, you can define how these values should be converted to MIDI events. The hand and feet positions are defined relative to the shoulders and hips, and to the estimated size of the body on the camera image. This way it should not matter how large you are or how far away you are from the camera.

The head position is defined relative to the image frame. I wanted to have at least one parameter that is different depending on where you stand, and the head is easy to move sideways or up and down.

And you can make music together with someone else! The app can track two persons simultaneously!

So the Body Pose Tracker can be very useful if you always wanted to dance and make music at the same time (my kids love it). Or you can also use it to conduct your music: Move your hands up and down or sideways to change the volume, dynamics or any other parameter of your music.

And I added a video screen so you can see what the camera sees and tracks (you can activate it in the general settings. Click on the settings button in the editor to enable it).

The Body Pose Tracker is only available in the iOS version for now, but I will probably add something very similar to this soon to Android as well.

I will now work on more serious features for the next update. Probably...

With the Body Pose Tracking module of MusiKraken, you can use the positions and movements of your hands and feet as a MIDI controller. The x- and y- position...

14/04/2021

I released a new version of MusiKraken that has a new control: The Touchpad!

The Touchpad is one giant multitouch surface. You can use multiple touch movements to generate MIDI events. Slide up-down and sideways with one or multiple fingers, spread your fingers to change the x- and y-difference values or use pressure or touch radius if your device supports it. This way you can control up to 5 independent parameters simultaneously. Per hand...

The Touchpad is also one giant button. Connect anything that generates notes or chords to its noteIn port and the Touchpad will play the active notes if you touch it.

And to make this more interesting, I also added a few arpeggiator patterns to it, so if you activate one of these patterns, it will play single notes based on the pattern and the button presses.

And then there is the "Note tapping" setting. In normal buttons, if there is already a finger down on the button it will not play another note until you release it. If Note Tapping is enabled, it will play a new note on every new touch. This way you can play faster by tapping on the Touchpad (at least I have a lot of fun every time I play with this...).

You can see a short demonstration of what you can do with the Touchpad here:

This video demonstrates the new Touchpad control in the app MusiKraken.The Touchpad control is available in both the iOS and Android versions of the app and ...

31/03/2021

New review of MusiKraken in amazonia.de: 😎
https://www.amazona.de/test-snarp-musikraken-midi-controller-baukasten-ios/

MusiKraken von Snarp ist eine modulare, experimentelle MIDI-Umgebung zum Bau von Controllern für die gesamte Apple-Familie iPhones & iPads

21/03/2021

I released a new update for MusiKraken on iOS (version 1.13):

-Hand Tracking now also supports detection of two hands, so the gestures can be performed with two hands simultaneously. And if your device has a TrueDepth sensor, you can directly access it from the Hand Tracking module. The advantage of this is that it will get the distance of the middle of your hand instead of the closest distance to whatever is in front of the camera. And you can use the distance of two hands (your hands, or with another person)!
The disadvantage is that you will only get a depth value if you hand is actually detected. Which worked nicely with my hands so far, but I haven't tested that many other hands yet. And one difficulty when tracking two hands is that both hands need to be visible. So if you move one hand closer to the camera, make sure that it doesn't cover the second hand. The easiest way to do this is to make the range smaller and keep enough distance to the device (it tracks the hands up to one meter of distance).

-You can now also use the Gyroscope to make music. While the Accelerometer uses the acceleration in 3 axes as data, the Gyroscope uses the device rotation.

-In the MIDI Input or MIDI Output module, you can now open the Bluetooth MIDI configuration settings of iOS. So you can scan and connect with other Bluetooth MIDI devices or advertize as a Bluetooth MIDI device, so that other devices can connect with it. So from now on you can now connect via WiFi, cable and Bluetooth.

MusiKraken iOS:
https://apps.apple.com/app/musikraken/id1538781007

MusiKraken Android (this will get the gyroscope and bluetooth update probably in the next version):
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ch.Snarp.SnarpMidiController

http://www.musikraken.com/

https://youtu.be/unn4Qj8xzqs

This is a short demonstration of the new features in Version 1.13 of MusiKraken for iOS:-Hand Tracking now also supports detection of two hands. And if your ...

19/03/2021

Preview of the new features that will be in the next version...

07/03/2021

MusiKraken is now also available on Android!

The Android version currently doesn't have any hand tracking or depth sensor support yet (Googles Hand Tracking API is still quite experimental, but this will come one day. And there are not that many Android devices with a depth sensor). And of course no AudioUnit support (as this is an Apple thing).

But everything else that the iOS version has is also in the Android version! Keyboard with highlightable scales and additional control possibilities via sliding and touch radius, chords pad that can be used to play full chords, amplitude and pitch detection from the microphone, accelerometer control and Face Tracking via MLKit from Google.

Connect your device to a computer via the cable (only if your device supports Android MIDI) or send the MIDI data via WiFi. Or send MIDI to other apps running on the same device.

The Android version can be downloaded for free so that you can test if you can actually connect to anything (the usual Android problem, there are some devices with very bad hardware). And the other features can be unlocked with one in-app purchase.

Get the Android version here:

29/01/2021

I released a new update for MusiKraken (Version 1.09). It contains the following new features:

-Pressure and radius support:
On devices that have 3D Touch support, you now also get a "pressure" port for keyboards and chords pads. So you can use the pressure as input. Which is great in combination with the sliding on the keys, so for example use the sliding on the y-axis for modulation and the pressure to control vibrato.
I also added a "radius" port, which is the finger radius that is measured on the display. Lay a finger flat on the display to increase the radius value. The resolution of this value is not that great, you only get around 5 steps between 0 and 1. Which is enough for some controls, for example if they only have on-off states, but not for all instruments.

-Timeline for AudioUnits:
You can now set the tempo and time signature and use a simple timeline for AudioUnits. This way you can finally use MIDI processors or AudioUnit instruments that depend on a timeline or on the tempo.
The timeline can be activated in the general settings in the editor.

-New keyboard layout:
You can now select a new keyboard layout in the keyboard settings, in which each key (black and white) has the same size and is side-by-side. The main reason why I added this is that you can hide the keys that do not belong to a selected scale completely, which wouldn't make much sense in the normal keyboard layout. Select "highlight scale" and "deactivate non-scale notes" in the keyboard settings and you will only see the keys belonging to the selected scale.

Which is very useful if you use split screen with a chords pad, especially on devices with small screens (the image below shows this setup with the dorian scale selected).

I hope you enjoy the new features!