The Lemur

JazzMutant's multitouch control surface for live performance

Cycling '74 is a reseller in the U.S. of the JazzMutant Lemur. It is a controller for live performance applications which combines distinctive industrial design, a brilliant modular graphic interface concept, and a proprietary touchscreen technology that can track multiple fingers simultaneously.

New Retail Price

The Lemur v.2 is now $1999.

At first glance, the Lemur looks like a high-fashion etch-a-sketch. As a performance interface, the Lemur is immediately appealing. You touch colorful rounded interface objects on the 12" LCD display to control your computer in any way you can imagine. The Lemur's elegant simplicity is made possible by its sophisticated graphics processor and proprietary touchscreen interface that tracks multiple fingers simultaneously.

Using the JazzEditor application running on your choice of Mac or Windows, you drag and drop switches, faders, and other objects into an exact simulation of the Lemur's screen. Make any number of interfaces, store them in an XML-based project file, then upload them to the Lemur and it's ready to go. You can reuse them with the Import/Export feature.

Page Up and Down buttons above the display will flip through your pre-defined interface pages, instantly changing the appearance and behavior of the device (making it more of a Chameleon than a Lemur). One moment you can be mixing by moving several faders simultaneously. The next moment you can be controlling a software synth with switches and balls that can be thrown around in a two-dimensional space.

Now the Lemur is ready to control a synthesis or processing application in a modular software program such as Cycling '74's Max/MSP and Native Instruments' Reaktor. Assign a fader object to change filter cutoff. Use a two-dimensional controller for multi-channel panning or scratching a sound file. Spend some quality time alone with your imagination: you'll find no shortage of cool applications for this animal.

The Lemur communicates using Open Sound Control (OSC) over a 100-baseT Ethernet cable, an emerging standard for controllers that has numerous advantages over MIDI: no latency, higher data capacity, 32-bit numerical precision, and easy configurability. OSC is currently supported by modular software applications such as Max/MSP, Reaktor, Pd, and AudioMulch - and more OSC-compatible applications are on the way. Once you experience the ability to name controllers freely and hook them up to high-resolution values, MIDI will seem very 1980s (which it is, by the way).

OSC messages are fully customizable, so you can input any OSC address for objects. The result is smoothly communicating with the software you want to control. And speaking of control, the Lemur can be remote-controlled via MIDI in addition to OSC, so you can emulate any control surface protocol, and keep your Lemur's state up-to-date with your host software. Not surprisingly, OSC can be used with multiple controllers on a network, so if one Lemur isn't enough, just use a standard ethernet hub and you can have a whole zoo full of 'em.

If you want to interface with existing hardware and software that only use MIDI, the JazzEditor provides a virtual MIDI interface between the Lemur and your other equipment. The Custom MIDI object allows complex MIDI mapping involving several objects' states. You can specify up to 8 MIDI In and MIDI Out ports for the Lemur to communicate with your setup, as well as 8 computer IPs and ports for OSC communication. Each message-generating object can be mapped to any pair of MIDI and OSC targets. The MIDI object can also send out complex SysEx messages to MIDI gear.

The Lemur's palette of user interface objects currently includes uniquely stylized buttons, faders, one- and two-dimensional area controllers optimized for live performance. Each object can be labeled with the name of the parameter you're controlling as well as its numerical value. You can also use the two-way nature of OSC to display numerical status information sent to the Lemur from your computer, allowing you to track what's going on with your computer without the computer being anywhere nearby. This means your performance can look more like performing and less like office work.

In addition to taking on any size and shape, the Lemur's user interface objects have "physical" properties including friction, evaporation, and smoothness. Faders and area controllers can either stay where you drag them (maximum friction), or slide away from your finger as if on ice (minimum friction). "Throw" a low-friction fader hard enough and it will bounce off the bottom of your mixer.

And you're not forced to control the non-linear world of audio with 0 to 127. Objects can be attached to arbitrary mathematical expressions to transform your movements into ranges appropriate for what you're trying to control.

At Cycling '74 we've fantasized about hardware for the dynamic world of modular music software that started with Max almost 20 years ago. During this time, we've seen many controllers: hard to use, lacking any visual feedback, and a pain to configure. But most of all, hardware controllers have lacked the sense of infinite possibilities we've come to cherish in software. Until now. The Lemur is the first hardware controller that mirrors the unlimited potential of reconfigurable modular software.

Version 1.6 Overview

  • New JazzDaemon background application for seamless integration, immediate communication and smooth network operation. New internal storage of modules, interfaces and projects at the Lemur including smart navigation.
  • New local browser dialogue with project view and interface pre-view facilitates easy managment and instant availability of projects, templates and modules from the Lemur. Adjustments of default settings and MIDI + OSC routings now directly possible from the Lemur.
  • 3 new objects and improvement of all present Objects. Refinement of workflow with better visibilty and graphical representation of function. Hiding complexity and achieving simplicity.
  • New grid function for precise and clear control adding visual indicators for exact parameter positions.

Technical Details

  • Physical size: 13.5" x 12" x 1.25"
  • Weight: 6.5 lbs.
  • Display: 12" LCD - 800 x 600 resolution
  • Computer Interface: Ethernet (100-baseT), Open Sound Control, DHCP
  • Editor Software: Compatible with Mac OS X and Windows XP, supports MIDI
  • UI Objects: Multi-state Button, Trigger, 2-D area with multiple "balls" tracking multiple fingers, Fader, Multislider, Signal Scope, Remote Status Monitor, Ring Dial, Container, Knob, SurfaceLCD, LEDs, Range, Text, Custom Button

Pricing and Availability

The Lemur is available to US customers from Cycling '74 for $1999.

JazzMutant's return policy: only unopened Lemurs can be returned and that request to return must be processed within a week of the customer having received his/her Lemur.

2nd Day Air shipping is highly recommended, and a $10 handling charge for insurance will be added to all orders.

Click here to go to our online store. And click here to download JazzMutant's warranty information on the Lemur. Please note: Dead pixels aren't covered by the warranty.