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Anyone used Cem Olcay's Midi Motion for Apple Watch?
If so, how is it? Does it work smoothly? So curious.
Comments
I got the app thinking I would attach it to my EWI windsynth to provide added modulation control. I'm not sure if the smoothness is enough for my purposes. It seems to be sporadic. For example, looking at the watch display I can see it is updating. Sometimes the updating seems quite smooth. Other times it seems to be more like 1 update/second, other times there are gaps of several seconds or more.
I think there's some reason (battery?) the app is adjusting these, since it seems to start in the "smooth mode" then if the watch is in constant motion for some (short) period of time, the updating seems to turn to more like 1/sec. Or maybe it's WatchOS doing task management with other apps on the watch, but I don't have other apps doing anything.
EDIT: I think may have I've identified when it goes into the slow mode. With 'always on' feature I think Apple Watch has periods where it's in a reduced power mode, with the display still on but slightly dimmed (and reduced cpu for apps?). Periodically it switches between regular mode and this 'reduced battery' mode. This may be when watch is moved in motion that suggests user is turning wrist up for display to be viewed. Not sure what exactly is happening, but I think the variation in smoothness is related to that. However, I also believe I've had same variations in 'workout mode' of the watch, which I would have expected to be smoother all the time.
Not sure about any of this.
I wonder if @cem_olcay has any thoughts/comments. I also wonder if there's any way to add a setting for user to control the rate/smoothness of updating.
Havent used this but have used midiWrist with some success. Just a suggestion if you are looking for other options. I do notice some lag in these types of apps.
Link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/midiwrist/id1452355349
I also have MidiWrist, which has different features from Midi Motion Watch. Every control on Midi Wrist, I think, is one that is manipulated by the user. It doesn't have the constant readout and messaging of x/y/z axis data from the Watch's accelerometer/gyroscope. I also think the lag we're talking about is different from whatever lag you're talking about with MidiWrist (where I haven't noticed lag).
This coarseness in updating of Midi Motion Watch is something related to settings on the Watch, possibly. Seems to still be present in mine when I have wrist detection off, passcode off, display set to always-on. Not sure what other settings could affect it.
I don't notice hardly, if any, lag in midiWrist either. Was just playing with it after I mentioned it. It is a great app.
Thanks for pointing this in our direction. I definitely looks like a solid option. I do like the idea of an Apple Watch App that uses motion (rather than the digital crown) for Midi signals. But seeing as my Apple Apps don't always sense motion properly, I'm not expecting a third-party app to be the smoothest of user experiences. Much as I enjoy Cem's other Apps, this one would seem to be an innovation waiting for reliable hardware!
I'm not so sure. Just from watching the readout of the axes on my watch, it's pretty darn good when it's doing the smooth updating. And I'm pretty sure it's a setting on the Watch. In any case, I'm sure @cem_olcay can clarify. FWIW, I get pretty smooth and accurate x-y-z info even from my inexpensive ($130) Artinoise windsynth. It's not like this is exotic technology.
I think the control on Midi Wrist and on Midi Watch Motion are really completely different. Midi Wrist requires the user to be manually manipulating controls on the watch. Midi Watch Motion provides hands free control. Which of those things you're looking for is likely to be the determining factor. My main intended use is actually to strap it to an Akai Ewi windsynth to add instrument position as a way to modulate, which I like having as a built in feature on my cheaper Artinoise. Midi Wrist would be useless for this use.
@hes I totally get the difference between the two, that's why I specifically say I like the idea of an app that works by motion alone - hence, it's one hand in motion rather than requiring two hands (to operate the digital crow). If you say it works well, that's good enough for me, seeing as Cem's Apps are good value.
As it happens, I have a Leap Motion HP computer keyboard where I'm able to type one minute, swipe the next. They're rare as uranium these days, so nab one if you see it on an auction site!
you could use Holon.ist. This issue seems to be with older watches especially. We have a fun feature for newer watches coming up next update btw.
Thanks. Doesn't seem like my watch is an "older" watch. It's an Apple Watch Series 6. Are there settings I can change to fix this problem?
Holon.ist looks interesting, I'll check into it.
Anything, @cem_olcay ?
If you scroll to bottom on the app, there’s a “start workout” button. It starts a workout session and lets the app read and stream the motion data even when the app is backgrounded or the watch’s display is off. My experience with the Series 4, older watch is pretty smooth, don’t have any lags. But dont forget the “stop workout session” after you have done with the app, unless it drains your battery
@cem_olcay Thanks, got it working eventually using the workout session. I'm not sure what my settings were before, tried various things, but definitely had the one update per second problem when watch had the display on and Midi Motion Watch was in the foreground. I was literally watching the Midi Motion Watch meters on the watch and could see when it switched from continuous updating to once per second. Not sure what the issue was (maybe something with wrist position sensing?) but I've got it working now.
Also, I did end up downloading and working a bit with the Holon.ist app/framework. @Conkers That is definitely an impressive piece of work, hard to wrap your head around and does an amazing out of stuff. But it's not documented well for casual users, most of whom will never be able to figure it out, and it's way overkill for someone who merely wants to stream x/y/z data from watch or phone to a synth. But I am interested in doing more, have already set up one use case where I combine acceleration sensing on iPhone (to sense a 'knock' motion) with position sensing on Apple Watch to trigger different notes on an iPad synth. Cool stuff.
@cem_olcay Okay, now trying to track down a battery usage issue. I was experiencing ongoing battery drain from my phone even after I quit Midi Motion Watch by swiping up on it in App Switching screen; I have no apps running that I can see.
However, when I check 'Battery' in 'Settings' for app usage, I can see that Midi Motion Watch is still running and accruing time in background, despite the fact that, so far as I can tell, I've completely closed it. What's happening here? I can fix this by restarting my iPhone. But other than restarting how can I get Midi Motion Watch to stop running in background?
I've spent the entire day today making different setups with MIDI Motion and Musikraken with my iPhone and Apple Watch SE. Both are similar and I really appreciate each of them. The only thing I would say in comparison is that MIDI Motion seems a little more stable on the watch than Musikraken on the watch. MIDI Motion was smoother overall, but I hesitate to say that cause it could have been something else like an unstable IDAM connection or interference I guess. Once you calibrate to amount of movement you want for each axis, it's super fun to play notes and modulate parameters. Both Musikraken and MIDI Motion are super smooth using the iPhone. Musikraken has a lot more motion detection and other features of course which work really well on the phone and iPad. Kind of amazing really. When I use my watch for live performance, I will defiantly start out using MIDI Motion.