Pc, Laptop, Tablet Or Something Else? Must be compact and capable of three things

[mrdee 1]

The topic "Cheapest tablet in the world" on this forum inspired me to write this post.

 

This post, in turn, might inspire other people to try something similar to the project I have in mind (or do a bit of "copycatting", which I don't really mind, if my question inspires people to get creative, why not)?

 

Anyway, what I wish to do is the following (by no means unique, but I want to have a go at it myself):

 

I want to build a virtual organ, which also gives me the possibility to combine a number of different organs in one console (a number of church organs, a theatre organ and a Hammond organ).

 

The principle is quite simple: I will build three MIDI keyboards into a case (simple enough, and apart from removing the innards of the keyboard from the case, no further modification needed, as they already have MIDI on board).

 

To that, I also wish to add a MIDI compatible pedal board, or a pedal board which I make MIDI compatible myself (takes a bit of time, but the parts are readily available and the job is not that difficult to do).

 

Then, for the final bit: getting the organ sounds in there.

 

That, in itself, is not such a big deal neither, as there is a lot of software available which allows people to play virtual organs through MIDI.

 

A few examples:

 

Hauptwerk (For church (pipe) organs and Theatre organs).

MidiTzer (A typical,great and FREE Theatre organ plug-in).

Native instruments' B4 (A virtual Hammond tonewheel organ).

All those virtual instruments (and there are also other, very good, sometimes cheaper and even free alternatives) happily run on the Windows Operating System, and some of them (if not all, but of that I am not 100% sure) will run on MacOS and even Linux.

 

Now, obviously, if I want to control those different instruments from my one console (separately, of course), it is obvious that I cannot have any stop tabs or controllers on the console itself, as they would work differently for every single instrument, and it would get to confusing to use.

 

That is why I need a device which uses a touch screen, so that I can reach out and manually change the sounds as you do on a normal organ.

 

Here you can see an example of such a custom built console:

 

As you can see, there is a monitor on both sides (both are touch screens) where the player can control the stops (sounds) of the organ by a touch of the finger.

 

When choosing the right kind of touch screen, I bear the following things in mind:

 

The device has to be able to run Windows software

It has to be able to run them comfortably, without disruptions

It has to be as compact as possible for portability reasons

It also has to be affordable

The example as you see in the picture would be off the list for me, as that would mean always having to take a PC tower or laptop and two monitors on the road, along with all the other gear.

 

A laptop with a touch screen would be a lot better, as long as it has got enough memory and a proper processor and sound card to run the software properly, but, I would like to be able to build inside the case, so just the screen is visible.

 

this brings me to the last option, and, the more advice I can get about this, the better:

I was wondering if there is some kind of tablet PC, or notebook, or netbook, or whatever compact kind of laptop out there, which has the qualities I need, ie. good enough processor, good enough sound card (or possibility to connect one), powerful enough processor and enough memory (or enough room for expansion).

 

Obviously, the more compact it is, the better, then all I have to do is find a nice space on top of the console, right in front of the player, so the sounds can easily be changed.

 

The other thing that then would go inside the case is a MIDI splitter, so all keyboards and the pedalboard can speak independently through MIDI, and an amplifier, which connects to a speaker system on the outside.

 

All that is needed then is, when everything is plugged in and connected, open the door of your console, start up your computer, select the organ you wish to use and a-playing you go (it would also be a good idea to add a wireless mouse to the setup so you can then, if needed, change instruments if you wish to do so).

 

But the main thing now remains, what shall I choose that has the qualities I mentioned, and that is especially compact and, more important affordable.

 

So, if anyone can offer advice on this one, I would love to hear from you.

I also hope that I managed to rouse the interest of aspiring musicians or experienced organists, or, people interested in a similar project to give this a try.

 

If anyone does want to try it too, I am always willing to give further guidelines and advice, and, who knows, we might even be able to start something special in the community where we exchange ideas about a similar project.

 

But, for now, please let me hear about the touch screen options.

 

Thank you.

[rpgsearcherz 5]

Well, when you are talking about touch screen types, there are only two that I'm aware of: the one that allows you to use your finger and the one that requires a stylus (I think it's magnetized?). And in these cases, the latter would be much better because it just seems to work better overall.One thing you'll experience with any touch device, though, is lag. I've yet to experience one that didn't lag at least enough to make it noticeable. And furthermore, accuracy often turns into a big issue. I've used PDA's before that required me to recalibrate them every 30-45 minutes.