Ableton has just released a free add-on pack for Makers looking to explore the possibilities for interaction between Live and the world around it. The new Connection Kit enables creative tinkerers to connect all kinds of programable bits and pieces to the popular music software, including Arduino, Bare Conductive’s Touch Board, LEGO Mindstorms EV3, littleBits modules, webcams, and Leap Motion gesture sensors.
The kit features 11 Max for Live devices that allow Makers to connect, control and monitor Live using a number of interfaces and communication protocols. Whether it’s accessing the web through JSON-based APIs or converting OSC to MIDI data, the possibilities are seemingly endless. For example, you can use your webcam to command a synthesizer, create a soundscape using weather forecasts or stock market fluctuations, and even turn various musical elements into physical actions through motors, lights and servos.
Ableton’s DIY-friendly toolbox makes it simpler than ever before to set up new and experimental ways to extend and interact with Live — as demonstrated in the below video’s complex sequence of events.
- 00:02 – Drumstick starts playhead, which triggers an LFO that controls a servo using the Arduino device
- 00:07 – Another servo with a pen attached to it is being controlled by parameter changes in a clip
- 00:11 – The golf ball is mapped to the XY pad of the camera device, which controls the frequency of a filter
- 00:13 – The pendulum swings between a light sensor and a light source, this motion modulates an EQ8
- 00:22 – LFOs in Live are controlling graphics in Processing using OSC
- 00:25 – Input from Leap Motion controls Live using OSC
- 00:30 – The golf ball triggers a MIDI note
- 00:34 – The JSON Video device loops a video snippet, creating a new beat
- 00:38 – Automation in Live controls the motors of the Lego Mindstorms EV3 device
- 00:50 – The robot uses a crocodile clip to close a circuit when touching the banana
- 00:53 – A pressure sensitive pad from littleBits is triggered by a hammer, causing the music to stop
Intrigued? Head over to Ableton’s website to download the kit and get started.