Wiimote strapped on guitar for wild effects, whammy bar gets totally jealous

What can't be done with a Wiimote? No, seriously. You can use the thing to control your vacuum, homegrown video games and your very own robotic sentry. Oh, and now you can use it to make yourself a better guitarist. YouTube member rockin1208 has hosted up a video of him executing all sorts of nasty pitch bends and whatnot thanks to a Wiimote strapped onto his Strat. Put as simply as possible, he pipes the Wiimote data to Max / Msp, which then sends MIDI data to a Digitech Whammy pedal. We know, you have no idea what we just said, so we'll just encourage you to don your gnarliest cans and hop on past the break for an aural explanation.

[Via Hack-A-Day]

[BB @ Oct 15th 2008 9:10AM]

I should have use this in my last gig!!!!!!! DAMN!

[Dave @ Oct 15th 2008 9:16AM]

The real question is, why is the wrist strap still attached to the wiimote?

[michaelportent @ Oct 15th 2008 3:15PM]

In addition to all the broken TVs, Wiimotes can now break groupies' faces in the front row.

[Carpet @ Oct 15th 2008 9:16AM]

Activate Star Power!

Guitar leads to Guitar Hero back to Guitar. The circle is now complete.

[Xander @ Oct 15th 2008 9:31AM]

i feel like attaching the wiimote to the headstock would give more control and a greater effect. there would be much more acceleration for the wiimote to detect that far from the axis of rotation.

[echo @ Oct 15th 2008 9:56AM]

It would, but he is using the buttons on the Wiimote to change effects. His left hand is holding the note, so it would be impractical to reach across with his right hand.

... Not to mention that this looks cooler.

[Stu L Tissimus @ Oct 15th 2008 9:46AM]

Best Wiimote hack ever.

[ZaxCG2 @ Oct 15th 2008 9:47AM]

Yes the Wiimote can do pretty much anything...

So why does Nintendo not milk the crap out of this?

[Canoo @ Oct 15th 2008 10:06AM]

i dont get it... why does everyone use wii-motes.. why not build your own thing with say an arduino and an accelerometer?

[jtibau @ Oct 15th 2008 10:25AM]

wii-motes are cheap, easy to get, look cool... Also they have bluetooth which makes for a dumb easy connection to a regular PC.
Plus, wtf is an arduino??? Can anybody ask the same question about a wiimote? I don't think so...

[Canoo @ Oct 15th 2008 11:08AM]

http://www.robotshop.ca/home/products/robot-parts/microcontrollers/arduino-microcontroller/arduino-bluetooth-microcontroller-module.html

THAT is an arduino. he could have built a custom case for it and made it way more unique.. even marketed it and made a bunch of money.

as it stands with the wiimote he cant sell that lol.

aslo, with the arduino hed have more a lot more power to do what he wants with it. add all the pots/switches/buttons he wanted, programmed it the way he wanted. wayyyy more flexible.

[Canoo @ Oct 15th 2008 11:11AM]

although i do agree it is a lot more expensive then a $50 wiimote. but a lot more professional if hes wanting to really go far with it.

[CubeGuy @ Oct 15th 2008 11:23AM]

He doesn't have to sell the Wiimote. He just has to sell the software if he really wants to make some cash off of the concept. Not only would he be making 100% profit, it's a helluvalot cheaper for the user in the long run.

[abu @ Oct 15th 2008 5:45PM]

I don't think it has much software to sell either, apart from some Max patches.


The whole point of using off the shelf consumer peripherals and a graphic framework is about doing it fast with no hassles.
It seems his hobby is music, not homebrew electronics.

[J. Baker @ Oct 17th 2008 9:39AM]

Canoo... GTFO.

[wonkydonkydotnet @ Oct 15th 2008 10:16AM]

WOW.
Tom Morello is jealous.

Great job, dude!

[JS @ Oct 15th 2008 11:43AM]

I was just thinking the same thing. I bet Tom's going to have this on his guitar to make some truly outrageous sounds, can't wait for that day.

[JofArnold @ Oct 15th 2008 10:16AM]

Or better still, controlling your MythTV install with it for ultimate nerdgasm:
http://www.benjiegillam.com/mythpywii-installation/

Ok, maybe not *better* but still very hot ;-)

[Fir3ball @ Oct 15th 2008 10:53AM]

I've always wondered why they haven't done this in guitar hero or rock band on the wii. this would make up for the lack of dl content (which is being made up for now)

And why i'm stuck paying nearly as much for the will version of guitar hero when it has no wireless or electronics inside aside from the buttons.

just my 2cents

[Canoo @ Oct 15th 2008 11:11AM]

although i do agree it is a lot more expensive then a $50 wiimote. but a lot more professional if hes wanting to really go far with it.

[Stephen Hawking @ Oct 15th 2008 12:14PM]

At first, I didn't like this idea. I even avoided watching the video until recently. However, he is wearing a Wesley Willis t-shirt on-stage...so I'm back to neutral.

[Alex @ Oct 15th 2008 12:43PM]

Anyone else think; "Buckethead" while watching this?

[Sean O' Grady @ Oct 15th 2008 3:45PM]

sounds like Map Of The Problematique by Muse

[Sean @ Oct 15th 2008 3:46PM]

great find btw

[Gordon @ Oct 15th 2008 4:16PM]

Very nice! I had a similar concept for a final in school, except the MIDI from Max was routed out to a Nord Lead 2 synth, and internally to a create drum patterns on my macbook:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6mGpJoHgrI

[iKenny81 @ Oct 15th 2008 5:54PM]

Also the german band Notwist in their last tour used two Wiimotes for control sequencers...

[rick @ Oct 15th 2008 8:35PM]

a wesley willis shirt! i already like hime.

[J. Baker @ Oct 17th 2008 9:40AM]

No. It really doesn't.

[G @ Nov 4th 2008 2:14PM]

too bad his music blows