There are more ways to be creative with MIDI than you may think. Here are six to start with…
1. Genki Wave Ring
Price: £200/$249 | Buy
A wearable MIDI ring that allows the application of dynamic effects and modulation control to your movements. The Wave responds to all manner of hand-based movements, including tilt, roll and flick. While a wholly different route than a MIDI keyboard, using the Wave can completely alter your approach to music making.
2. Artiphon Orba 2
Price: £140/$149 | Buy
Don’t be deceived by its size, Orba 2 is a spherical, palm-held synth, sound generator and instrument crafter. Able to trigger the likes of upright pianos, guitars, orchestral instruments and even incorporate found sounds, Orba 2 is essentially a physical palm-top DAW, as well as a MIDI controller...
3. ODD Ball
Price: £79/$99 | Buy
Described as ‘the first ball in the world to make music’, the ODD Ball syncs with a companion app to enable you to, quite literally, bounce your beats. You can also tap the ball to create rhythmic patterns, jam along with existing tracks or add more balls to create a kind of ball-based-band. Odd it may be, but by all accounts hours of fun.
4. Mi.Mu Gloves
Price: £2500/$3000 | Buy
OK, we’re getting into the realms of the super-expensive now, but Imogen Heap’s Mi.Mu glove controllers have certainly caused a big enough splash to be worthy of inclusion. These gloves allow for fluid gesture control of every parameter you can think of, from the music to the modulation. They sport a six-hour battery life and flexible DAW-mapping.
5. Roland Neova
Price: £219/$249 | Buy
A MIDI ring controller that responds intuitively to gesture control with the aim of making instrumental expression more versatile. The Neova allows every distinct gesture to be assignable to a particular parameter, Roland’s wearable also boasts an impressive 8-hour battery life for those long sessions. If your arms can take all the wafting, that is...
6. The Glide
Price: £250/$250 | Buy
A labour of love, designed by a musical inventor aptly named Keith Groover, The Glide is a melodic instrument driven by internal accelerometers, with numerous buttons to activate key parameters, the twin controllers keep tabs on various dimensional axis as your manipulate sound. An intriguing prospect and one we’re keen to test.
