Waveband vs MusiKraken

Waveband lets people with a wide range of disabilities express themselves musically through movement. By moving an Apple device, users convert motion into the sound of their choice of musical instrument. Users can roll, pitch or turn the device to play a piano scale, shake the device to play a tambourine, and so on. Waveband is completely customizable to ensure that each user's ability to move can be used to best advantage. 
*** WHO IS IT FOR? *** 
 Waveband is designed to be used by anyone who wants to express themselves musically through motion with their iOS device (iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad). When used in conjunction with a strap to secure the device to the body, the app can be especially useful to people who have disabilities that prevent them from playing traditional musical instruments. For example, a client who has some control over his arms could have an iPod Touch attached to his arm with a runner's strap. When the client moves his arm sideways, the device plays a pre-selected scale across several octaves, sounding just like a banjo. Another client with extremely limited control over her movements could even have a device attached to her power chair so that the movement of the chair activates the sound of a piano. A client who experiences spasticity might love to control the tambourine or drums.

 *** KEY FEATURES *** 
 -- a wide selection of sounds 
 -- completely customizable 
 -- multiple people can play simultaneously on a network
 -- compatible with applications such as GarageBand through MIDI output

 Clients and their music therapist (or caregiver) can choose: from among 30 instruments; the base key; the scale type; and the type and intensity of movement that will activate the notes. They can change any of these options at any time. In addition, the app includes features for more advanced users, such as MIDI output over WiFi. *** SUPPORT *** To report a problem with the app, or to make a suggestion about the future development of Waveband, please email appsupport@canassist.ca *** CANASSIST at the UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA *** CanAssist at the University of Victoria is dedicated to developing customized technologies and services for people with disabilities, with a focus on clients in British Columbia, Canada.

MusiKraken is a modular MIDI Controller Construction Kit, empowering you to fully harness the capabilities of your mobile device's hardware. Winner of a 2022 MIDI Innovation Award! Make music using device sensors like Touch, Motion Sensors, Camera (face, hand, body and color tracking, including TrueDepth and LiDAR support) and Microphone, or connected devices like Game Controllers, Apple Watch or AirPods. Choose from several types of modules in the editor and connect the ports to create your own personal MIDI controller setup. Route the MIDI signals through effect modules to control multiple instruments simultaneously or invent creative new MIDI controller combinations. MusiKraken supports sending and receiving MIDI data over Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or via Core MIDI (for example by using Inter-Device Audio and MIDI (IDAM)). And it can host Audio Unit (AUv3) instrument plugins. Or send the sensor data via OSC. MusiKraken is also one of the first apps to officially support MIDI 2.0! You already own a very powerful device with all kinds of sensors and connection possibilities. With this app you can use these sensors as inputs, combine them with all kinds of MIDI effects and send the resulting MIDI events to your computer, synthesizer, any other MIDI-capable app or Audio Unit to to create your own, expressive MIDI controller setup. Your device for example has a multitouch screen. Use this with the Keyboard module to slide on the keys to control multiple musical parameters simultaneously. Using MPE, MIDI 2.0 or the Chord Splitter also allows you to control these parameters separately per key. Newer devices also support tracking the finger radius (or pressure on older devices), which adds another dimension of control. Multitouch is also used by the Chords Pad to play the chords of a selected scale, or the Touchpad, which allows you control values via touch gestures. Another unique input sensor is the camera: MusiKraken supports tracking your hands in front of the camera, your body pose, your face or objects with specific colors. This way you can for example use your iOS device as a Theremin, jump or dance around in front of the camera to generate notes or control audio parameters, use your mouth to control the sound of a virtual trumpet, or any other combination. If your device has a TrueDepth or LiDAR sensor, you can also use the distances as input values. Your device also has motion sensors: Accelerometer, Gyroscope and Magnetometer. They can be either used separately, or combined to get the current rotation of the device in three dimensions. Use this to generate sounds or control parameters while shaking or tilting your device. Your device also has a microphone, and MusiKraken can detect the pitch or amplitude of the signal. Your iOS device also allows you to connect to external devices. MusiKraken for example supports Game Controllers (trigger events on button or thumbstick changes, motion sensors, haptics and light on supported Game Controllers), Apple Watch (motion sensors, digital crown, touch, heart rate) or the motion sensors within AirPods. The real power comes once you start combining the sensors with the effect modules. There are effects that can be used to change or filter the MIDI events. Some effects allow you to combine multiple input sources into new output values. Or splits chords into separate notes so that they can be sent to different channels. Important: Please note that some of the modules only work on iOS devices with specific hardware: ARKit Face Tracking and the TrueDepth module need a TrueDepth front camera, and Hand and Body Pose Tracking needs at least iOS 14, and might be too slow on older devices. HealthKit is used in the app to access Apple Watch data like heart beat or motion sensors. The app only uses sensor data to generate MIDI events.