Wii Play The Drums Takes the Next Step

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Read and Write WAV Files in Java
In this code tutorial, I show you how to get java to play nice with WAV files. It's a little bit trickier than you might expect!

Wii Play the Drums
This is a fun little piece of software that turns your wiimote into a drum kit. It uses natural drum-kit motions to trigger sounds, and it is easy to set up on any windows pc. You can get the source code here.

Suite for AudioSurf
AudioSurf generates gameplay based on music. That gives us musicians a unique opportunity to act as level designers. See how I took advantage of this.

How to Code a Sampler in .Net
An introduction to audio programming with managed directx. Source code included!

How to Code a Sampler in Java
In this tutorial, I cover the basics of timing and audio playback in java. Full source included, of course.

New Music

Waltz on the Water by Evan X. Merz
I wrote this piece as an entry for a Waltz 'challenge' at TIG Forums. I wanted to write something really sweet sounding, for once, but I wanted to keep within my style. So this piece combines strings and synthesizers in my usual fashion, but is a little more harmonically traditional than most of my work.

Liberty City Indie (for GTAIV) by Evan X. Merz
An independently produced radio station that players can drop into their mp3 channel in GTAIV. This station includes hand-picked indie rock that is perfect for running from the cops and a slew of references to in-game locations.

Proposal Part 3 by Evan X. Merz
This is the 3rd and final part in the suite that I wrote to propose to my (now) fiance. It continues and closes a few ideas that were started in the first two parts.

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Wii Play The Drums Takes the Next Step

After a long incubation, the instrument that launched this blog is finally taking the next step.

The project has been moved to CodePlex, to allow more collaborative development, and to get more developers involved with the code. If you want to download the latest version of Wii Play the Drums, or check out the source code, then you will have to head over to the Wii Play the Drums site on CodePlex.

This move was spurred by sizable contributions from a new developer, Andre Knight. Andre has brought many new features to the software, and has agreed to moderate the development process on the CodePlex site. Here are the latest additions from Andre:

-Added support for use of two Wiimotes, thanks to Brian Peek for updating the WiimoteLib to support multiple Wiimotes
-Re-designed and more intuitive GUI
-Added better support to find wiimotes connected via bluetooth
-Added more sounds to sound library
-Added functionality to be able to record your “Wii Play The Drums” drum session and play it back.(Vista users will need to enable their recording devices for this to work. By default, Vista has recording devices disabled and hidden.)
-Added more Wiimote gesture + buttons combinations
-Added a basic metronome

Here's a shot of the new GUI.

So now is the time to get involved! If you have wanted to contribute code to this project, or just tell us how you think it should work, hit the Wii Play the Drums site on CodePlex, and leave us a message in the forums.

Please thank Andre in the comments!

Posted by Evan on August 27, 2008

Tags:wii play the drums, wiimote, drum kit, gestural instrument

Sharing:

lebeth at 2008-02-25 23:49:47team audiosurf
Thanks so much for this! I really enjoy it.

vogelap at 2008-02-26 07:04:31IRON CHEF fan
Thanks! Very cool!!!

Zelda Duck at 2008-02-26 11:11:12BADASS
Awesome work! We really need a community of -composers- level designers for audiosurf! :D

Evan at 2008-02-26 11:30:13
That's a great idea, Zelda Duck. If you, or anyone else, writes something for AudioSurf, send me a link: evan (at) thisisnotalabel (dot) com

One problem with that is that it's tough to distinguish between music written for AudioSurf, and just music in general. That's part of the reason why I tried to make a lot of Surf-related references in the suite above. From the titles, to the samples used, to the actual contour in Dunes, I tried to saturate the music with beach images.

Patrick Alexander at 2008-02-26 22:06:10Plugged!
Here you go: http://www.eegra.com/pages/show/title/26_02_2008_Speaking_of_Audiosurf___/ Hope it sends at least a handful of hits your way. Well done on being the first person to do this, and thanks! I'm very curious to see (hear, rather) all the variations on the same concept, that I expect will appear before too long.

Matt Burris at 2008-03-01 07:00:27Audiosurf Video
Just to let you know, I've posted a video of me playing Horizon on AudioSurfBoard: http://audiosurfboard.com/2008/03/01/evan-x-merz-horizon/ Great job, I enjoy all 5 songs, they create fun tracks in Audiosurf.

evan at 2008-03-01 11:35:34Posted
Thanks for the video. I posted it in an update.

at 2008-03-15 20:36:20fedemacloiner
hola soy de argentina..este juego esta buenisimo...puedo ganarles a todos..

Frosty Stillwell at 2008-03-16 02:13:38cool
goos music guys! FAAAABulous

iusfiu at 2008-03-17 03:06:03kuyioerug
loihnvj ioujegkj oiieurtlkj n

at 2008-04-05 12:05:05Loved every second of it.
This is a random person saying Hello to you! I could not have enjoyed music any better than your fantastic suite. Absolute favorite has to be "Sunrise" but all of them were fantastic. I honestly do look forward to anything new you come up with. I know this is rather late, but it's things like this that make me want to yell "This is what Music is!" Good day.

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