Virtual musical instruments with user selectable and controllable mapping of position input to sound output

A virtual musical instrument method for mapping positional data from a hardware controller to output data useful by an output device in creating an output, comprising:

• loading and executing a mapping routine;
• requesting user input for customization of output parameters used by the mapping routine;
• receiving the requested user input;
• customizing the mapping routine based on the received user input;
• receiving positional data including transmitter coordinates from the hardware controller, wherein the transmitter coordinates include a first set of coordinates for a first transmitter and a second set of coordinates for a second transmitter;
• with the mapping routine, mapping the received positional data to output data including musical instrument digital interface (MIDI), wherein the mapping routine is adapted to perform the mapping to map the first set of coordinates differently than the second set of coordinates;
• and
• transmitting an output signal comprising the output data to the output device.

A computer-implemented system for mapping user positional information to output data useful for creating an output, comprising:

• a memory for storing a plurality of mapping routines;
• a user interface for displaying identifiers for each of the mapping routines to a user of the system and for displaying customizable output parameters for the mapping routines;
• an input device for receiving user input indicating the selection of one the mapping routine identifiers and receiving user customization input for one of the displayed customizable output parameters;
• and
• a digital processor for retrieving one of the mapping routines corresponding to the selected mapping routine identifier, for processing the user positional information based on the retrieved mapping routine and utilizing the customizable output parameters to map the user positional information to output data, and to create an output signal including at least a portion of the output data, wherein the user positional information is collected from a gestural interface having a performance area with a detection range and wherein the customizable output parameters include dimensions of the detection range.

A computer readable medium for mapping user position data to output data based on a user selectable and customizable mapping routine comprising:

• first computer code devices configured to cause a computer to create a user interface to display a plurality of mapping routine identifiers to a user;
• second computer code devices configured to cause a computer to receive user selection input indicating a user selection of one of the mapping routine identifiers;
• third computer code devices configured to cause a computer to execute a mapping routine corresponding to the user selected mapping routine identifier;
• fourth computer code devices configured to cause a computer to process user position data with the executing mapping routine to map the user position data to output data, wherein the user position data is collected from a gestural interface having a performance area with a detection range;
• and
• fifth computer code devices to cause a computer to manipulate the user interface to display a set of customizable output parameters for the executing mapping routine and to receive user customization input for at least one of the customizable output parameters, wherein the customizable output parameters include dimensions of the detection range and wherein the third computer code devices function to execute the mapping routine using the received user customization input.

A method of mapping user positional data to output data based on user selection and customization input, comprising:

• displaying a plurality of mapping routine identifiers to a user through a user interface;
• receiving user selection input indicating a user selection of one of the mapping routine identifiers;
• executing a mapping routine corresponding to the user selected mapping routine identifier;
• receiving user position data;
• and
• processing the user position data with the executing mapping routine to map the user position data to output data;
• wherein the output data is configured to be used by a synthesizer and the mapping routine identifiers correspond to a like number of musical approaches, the musical approaches being selected from the group consisting of a one instrument approach, a two instrument approach, a four instrument approach, a conductor approach, a conductor with a sample trigger approach, a blues organ approach, a range of motion blues organ approach, a microtonal instrument approach, and a talking drums approach and wherein the processing is performed differently for each of the musical approaches to map the user position to create a unique set of the output data.

A virtual musical instrument method for mapping positional data from a hardware controller to output data useful by an output device in creating an output, comprising:

• loading and executing a mapping routine;
• requesting user input for customization of output parameters used by the mapping routine;
• receiving the requested user input;
• customizing the mapping routine based on the received user input, wherein the customizing includes establishing a size of a gestural range used by a receiver connected to the hardware controller in sensing the positional data;
• receiving positional data including transmitter coordinates from the hardware controller;
• mapping the received positional data to output data including musical instrument digital interface (MIDI) data;
• and
• transmitting an output signal comprising the output data to the output device.