Joyst Instruments is seeking funding on Kickstarter for new style of Musical Instrument Digital Interface controller.
The Joyst JV-1 MIDI controller (pictured) provides an array of gamer-style thumb joysticks to give more expressive possibilities for electronic musicians.
Notes are played by striking the joysticks. If one is then rotated this bends that note up or down.
The JV-1 has emerged from a Master of Engineering thesis project carried out by Philip Snell under the supervision of Dr Paul Cuffe at the UCD School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
The goal of the project was to create a new MIDI controller that would allow a musician to bend each note, finely control velocity, inject vibrato, and articulate precise after-touch effects.
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The note layout is of a chromatic accordion. In this arrangement, every type of chord has a consistent fingering shape, regardless of its root note. Scales are always the same pattern wherever you start, minimising the need for rote memorisation.
Philip Snell, CEO and co-founder, explained: “Why can’t a MIDI controller let you bend notes like an electric guitar? Even on the earliest prototype, we could see the power of joysticks in this role. They allow the player to inject subtlety and fine intonation into their playing, with a tactile and responsive feel.
"The buttons and pads you find on traditional MIDI controllers are just too one-dimensional, sterile and overly digital. Joysticks restores what was lost, a full range of motion, a responsive springiness, organic bends, fresh sounds.”
The other Joyst co-founders are William Langrell, Edward Byrne and Dr Cuffe.
Joyst has set a minimum funding target of €12,500 to be raised by November 5. Discounts are on offer for the earliest backers, who can secure a JV-1 for just €199, a significant discount on its RRP of €349.
COO William Langrell stated: “We’ve been through several good rounds of prototyping now so we are now ready to present JV-1 to the world through our Kickstarter campaign. We are super excited about the JV-1 so we are asking people to back this project today to help us meet, and hopefully even exceed, our Kickstarter target and get the JV-1 into the hands of talented musicians around the world.”
To produce sounds, the JV-1 can be coupled to any Digital Audio Workstation, hardware synth, or even your phone using a USB OTG cable. The JV-1 leverages a recent extension of the MIDI protocol, termed MPE (MIDI Polyphonic Expression).
This backward-compatible standard, ratified in 2018, allows note-specific pitch bend and after-touch signals to be relayed from a MIDI controller to a synthesizer.
Joyst has been established with the support of NovaUCD, the Centre for New Ventures and Entrepreneurs at UCD and earlier this year Joyst completed the NovaUCD Student Enterprise Competition.
