Re: D-Beam question

["Ben Porter" <azrix@n2music.com>]

Check this out: 
http://www.harmony-central.com/Newp/WNAMM98/Roland/Dimension-Beam.html . 
Roland has exclusive license to the D-beam technology. F*cking overdone 
copyright laws! ARHHH! And of course Roland would never actually release a 
dedicated D-Beam like Ineractive Light did. You have to buy it attached to 
another product that you don't need and you then have limited 
programmability for it. 

The D-beam is no longer available, but you can check here: 
http://www.pacificnet.net/~flux/ . They've had some of the original 
Dimension Beams for sale. Don't know if they still do.

Well, I've been looking for original D-beams as someone here on the list 
(John Hunter) talked about his setup with a couple of D-beams (search for 
it in the LD archives). It sounded very cool and I've been on the lookout 
for them every since. I look in the classifieds on Harmony Central and on 
Ebay quite often and have never seen any used ones for sale.

This leads me to believe that either: a) there were never that many 
D-beams made in the first place, or b) they are that cool and nobody who 
has one wants to sell it, or c) the people who bought them have enough 
money to throw around that they have no need to sell them.

The D-beams are so cool, but I don't think the "unwashed masses" really 
got the idea of it for use by itself. Of course, now that Roland is 
including it with their "techno-in-a-box" stuff there are lots of people 
using it, but I'm not holding my breath of there ever being a stand alone 
version being made again anytime soon.

Something else you might want to check out: http://www.soundbeam.co.uk/ . 
They are making a product that works very similiar to the D-beam. Its not 
the same or nearly as compact, but it might be your best alternative. If 
you really want a true D-beam, than I think your best bet is one of those 
Roland HPD-15 Handsonics.

One last thing. Have any of you actually seen a performance with someone 
who primarily used a D-beam(s)? I've always thought that a pair of them 
would make a great controller for Max and have been trying to imagine what 
it would *look* like to see someone making music just by moving their arms 
around in the air.

Hope this helps.

Ben Porter.

--

On Tue, 29 Aug 2000 18:05:13   Allan Hoeltje wrote:
>Anyone here using the "Dimension Beam" from Interactive Light?  I did a
>web search and found that Roland licensed the technology for their line
>of DJ equipment around 1996 but the URL for Interactive Light is dead.
>Are they out of business?  Is the D-Beam still available anywhere?  If
>anyone here has any info on this device I'd really appreciate hearing
>from you.
>
>Thanks!
>
>-Allan
>
>
>


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