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LEAP Motion and GECO


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Wondering if anyone has played with LEAP Motion's controllers, and the third-party GECO app that translates gestures captured by the LEAP device into MIDI data.

 

[video:youtube]

 

I believe LEAP has gone through some changes in the last year or so and I don't know if GECO is supported or even still developing. But it still works enough for me to adjust filter cutoff on a softsynth by waving my hand like a wizard, so I'll avoid updating the software and forge ahead. I'm hoping it's reliable enough to use onstage, if only for the flash factor. It certainly seems like it would be useful to the producer crowd as well; there are a lot of demos of people using it with sequences and beats in Ableton. My interest is more in, essentially, a no-touch pitch/mod "wheel" or XYZ "pad" -- sort of half a theramin (though come to think of it, paired with Mainstage I may be able to make it trigger notes as well as adjust parameters).

 

I have a sentimental reason for wanting to make it work, as well: I stumbled on the LEAP device cleaning out the office of a friend and coworker who passed away last year. I didn't know what it was for months, until I realized it was part of a project he had been working on involving using hand gestures to trigger lighting cues while he played guitar. It would be an excellent tribute to him, I think, to use The Force to bend pitch and tweak parameters during gigs.

Samuel B. Lupowitz

Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado.

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Been using it for years, not lately though as I don"t need the Jean Luc Ponty sound for recent gigs.

It"s very responsive to double bowing.

Hold your index and middle finger over the surface area and do trills and get that 16th/32nd note attack.

It"s expressive too but I wasn"t using it for ballads, etc.

It worked really well though on Chris Hein Horns Soprano Sax.

He has some great articulations for Horn Sections but the Solo Stuff was limited.

 

Geco and LM are nice. Cheap too.

Paid 69 bucks and the app was free or for 5 bucks, can"t remember it"s been a while.

 

Magnus C350 + FMR RNP + Realistic Unisphere Mic
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  • 2 weeks later...

I have been using Gecko. Nice to have many concurrent midi CC's available for a range of gestures. It's most useful for modeled instruments and symphonic libraries, I have to admit I haven't used it recently. Why?

 

- I prefer left hand controllers with some tactile resistance

- My hand gets a bit tired and sore after dangling in the air for awhile

- I haven't yet developed enough skill to be better with than other controllers

 

Perhaps it's time to dust it off and give another chance. YMMV

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Good to know I have some folks with experience I can check in with. I've been gradually working on integrating it into my Mainstage setup, and I'm just on the verge of having it work on some patches the way I need it too, but I'm treading carefully. I think I have a little more careful setup to do, documentation nearby, to make sure it's working consistently.

Samuel B. Lupowitz

Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado.

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:thu: What are you having it do for you?
Starting with some simple pitch bend and modulation for synths -- vibrato or filter cutoff depending on the patch. I figure that if I can get comfortble using it as a no-contact pitch/mod controller, I can get more creative and ambitious.

 

Samuel B. Lupowitz

Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado.

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