AirSticks with Alon

HackSound members were in for a treat tonight with Alon Ilsar coming in to demonstrate the AirSticks! Alon has been a drummer for over 25 years, and has come up with an innovative and intuitive way to perform by triggering sounds (any sound or sample track, not just drums!) through the air using motion-sensing hand controllers.

Many of us were keen to try it as it looks fun and akin to playing a motion-controlled video game.

The AirSticks require you to stand in front of the magnetic sensor and trigger sounds by moving the hand controllers in a striking and slashing fashion. The movement feels quite natural and unrestricted, so you can go for broke and dance too if you like.The buttons on the controllers can also be used to add a sound, such as high hats, or add sound effects. Not only that, you can bring in your feet too by using the Keith McMillen 10 gesture-sensitive foot pad.

For performances, it’s probably a good idea to know what your sound configurations are so that you aren’t lost in virtual space. Each sound is configured and mapped to a trigger point which runs along a vertical line. For instance, you could trigger a sound close to your body and as you move your controllers further out, following the same line, the pitch would increase.

There is a lot you can do with the AirSticks already but future possibilities include using the controllers on it’s side and supporting full body oscillation. Regardless, the AirSticks offer an exciting and new way for music to be more easily accessible to anyone from any background. Cheers to that!

Carmen - Hack Sounds member

Pics and a short clip below:

A post shared by Hack Sounds (@hacksounds) on Jul 3, 2017 at 2:21am PDT