Hey there,
I am hoping to use my cell phone as a midi controller to control my magic music visuals live. I mostly want to use it to move between scenes, but having the ability to control varying parameters would be great. When performing live the connector to the projector is usually several feet away from the stage so I don't have access to control my own visuals. I am thinking I will need a bluetooth dongle to connect the computer I am using Magic Music Visuals on with my cell phone. I would also need an app on my phone capable of sending midi signals that Magic Music Visuals can communicate with via the usb bluetooth dongle. I have yet to find the info I am looking for through the forums on the MMV website so I thought I would write a message. I want to know if MMV has the ability to connect with a smart phone via bluetooth / midi app program and if the MMV team has suggestions on compatible usb bluetooth dongles and midi controller apps for android. Also if there is another suggestion I am all ears! I hope I have conveyed my questions and thoughts clearly.
Take care,
Jon
OS- Windows 7
Phone- Samgsung Galaxy s8
Using Smart Phone as midi device to control MMV from afar
Re: Using Smart Phone as midi device to control MMV from afa
Hi Jon, the industry-standard smartphone/tablet controller is TouchOSC, which is available for iOS and Android. Here is the Android page: https://hexler.net/software/touchosc-android. It is completely configurable to any layout you want. The only catch is that it requires Wi-Fi. But many people use TouchOSC with Magic, and you can do a search on these forums for TouchOSC if you want further info.
If you can't get access to Wi-Fi, there are still many good wireless MIDI controllers. Generally they have their own proprietary wireless signal, so they don't need Bluetooth either. The one I use is the Numark Orbit: https://www.numark.com/product/orbit. You will actually get better wireless connectivity with this type of device than with a Wi-Fi device, because Wi-Fi can get bottlenecked and laggy if you are on a shared network. But obviously, buying a new wireless controller is a lot more expensive than buying TouchOSC for your existing smartphone/tablet.
If you can't get access to Wi-Fi, there are still many good wireless MIDI controllers. Generally they have their own proprietary wireless signal, so they don't need Bluetooth either. The one I use is the Numark Orbit: https://www.numark.com/product/orbit. You will actually get better wireless connectivity with this type of device than with a Wi-Fi device, because Wi-Fi can get bottlenecked and laggy if you are on a shared network. But obviously, buying a new wireless controller is a lot more expensive than buying TouchOSC for your existing smartphone/tablet.