Following a successful Kickstarter campaign in late 2016, Bordeaux-based Joué has officially launched the commercial version of its eponymous modular music-making interface. The Joué offers musicians a real instrument feel to digital music creation, with flexible hot-swap modules allowing for tactile playing of keys, strings, drums and more.
Essentially, the Joué interface and MIDI controller is made up of a metal/wood main board that rocks a polyphonic pressure sensor and plays host to colorful "magic" modules. Each module is fashioned from a soft touch elastic material that transmits variations in pressure applied to the surface through to the board's sensor area beneath.
They're attached to the board kind of like fridge magnets, and each one is configured to produce a different playing experience, one that caters for tactile interaction instead of merely dragging fingers across a lifeless touchscreen.
The Joué board is plugged into a tablet running music-making apps via USB and its makers say that the device is MPE compliant, so responds to gestures like vibrato, bending and aftertouch. RFID tags allow for auto detection of modules.
The expressive interface/controller is available now. A Joué board and starter kit comes in at €479 (US$600), or you can buy a board on its own for €399 and add individual magic modules starting from €19 each. You can get a good feel for what's on offer in the video below.
Source: Joué