The Lemur was a highly customizable multi-touch device from French company JazzMutant founded by Yoann Gantch, Pascal Joguet, Guillaume Largillier and Julien Olivier in 2002, which served as a controller for musical devices such as synthesizers and

mixing console A mixing console or mixing desk is an electronic device for mixing audio signals, used in sound recording and reproduction and sound reinforcement systems. Inputs to the console include microphones, signals from electric or electronic inst ...

s, as well as for other media applications such as video performances. As an audio tool, the Lemur's role was equivalent to that of a

MIDI controller A MIDI controller is any hardware or software that generates and transmits Musical Instrument Digital Interface ( MIDI) data to MIDI-enabled devices, typically to trigger sounds and control parameters of an electronic music performance. They mo ...

in a

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, an ...

studio setup, except that the Lemur used the

Open Sound Control Open Sound Control (OSC) is a protocol for networking sound synthesizers, computers, and other multimedia devices for purposes such as musical performance or show control. OSC's advantages include interoperability, accuracy, flexibility and enh ...

(OSC) protocol, a high-speed networking replacement for MIDI. The controller was especially well-suited for use with

Reaktor Reaktor is a graphical modular software music studio developed by Native Instruments (NI). It allows musicians and sound specialists to design and build their own instruments, samplers, effects and sound design tools. It is supplied with many ...

and

Max/MSP Max, also known as Max/MSP/Jitter, is a visual programming language for music and multimedia developed and maintained by San Francisco-based software company Cycling '74. Over its more than thirty-year history, it has been used by composers, pe ...

, tools for building custom

software synthesizers A software synthesizer or softsynth is a computer program that generates digital audio, usually for music. Computer software that can create sounds or music is not new, but advances in processing speed now allow softsynths to accomplish the sa ...

Creating an interface

The Lemur came with its own proprietary software called the JazzEditor to create interfaces. Users could build interfaces using a selection of 15 different objects (including fader, knobs, pads, sliders...), group them as modules and arrange them using as many pages as needed. Each object could then receive any

or OSC attribute. A particularity of the Lemur was the ability to modify the physical behavior of each object (for instance adding or removing friction on faders). The internal memory of the Lemur enabled the storage of many interfaces, each one controlling a specific software for instance.

Discontinuation

JazzMutant discontinued production of the Lemur in 2010, citing competition from more mainstream multi-touch capable computers and tablets. The multi-touch interface was recreated as an

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...

macOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. Within the market of ...

and Android

app App, Apps or APP may refer to: Computing * Application software * Mobile app, software designed to run on smartphones and other mobile devices * Web application or web app, software designed to run inside a web browser * Adjusted Peak Performan ...

by the software company Liine (founded by

Richie Hawtin Richard "Richie" Hawtin (born June 4, 1970) is a British-Canadian electronic musician and DJ. He became involved with Detroit techno's second wave in the early 1990s, and has been a leading exponent of minimal techno since the mid-1990s. He becam ...

). In September 2022, Liine announced the discontinuation of the Lemur app.

Users

The Lemur had been used by several famous artists. *

Alexander Hacke Alexander Hacke (also known as Alexander von Borsig, Alex Hacke, Hacke, born 11 October 1965) is a guitarist, bass guitarist, singer, musician, record producer, writer and filmmaker from Germany. He is primarily known as a longtime member of the ...

Matthew Herbert Matthew Herbert (born 1972), also known as Herbert, Doctor Rockit, Radio Boy, Mr. Vertigo, Transformer, and Wishmountain, is a British electronic musician. He often takes sounds from everyday items to produce electronic music. Career Mat ...

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize t ...

Modeselektor Modeselektor is a German electronic music duo consisting of Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary. History The group members met in 1992 in Berlin with group member Szary performing live acid house music at illegal underground parties, under th ...

* Emilie Simon

References

{{Reflist Experimental musical instruments Music hardware

Creating an interface

Discontinuation

Users

See also

References