The design of the Witchy Woo is inspired by the tribes culture of New Orleans and the “Mardi Gra Indians” tradition, as well as by Disney villains who often possess a scepter with magical powers. It is made out of an old antique lamp, black ostrich feathers and an LED shaped like an ampersand which is my symbol as an artist as it’s the first character of my artist name – &theNIGHT. This scepter’s design wishes to bring magic into technology and appear more mystical than technical, with all the sensors, wires and electronics hidden inside it.
Unlike other instruments, the Witchy Woo is not meant to sit on a table or be gently hung on a performer’s neck. It is meant to move freely and even dramatically, thrown above the performer’s head and strongly tapped on the floor. This means that it must be wireless and send MIDI commands through Bluetooth, be light and durable enough to survive any performance, and powerful enough to light the LED light. At the same time, converting orientation data to MIDI commands required rethinking of the MIDI protocol as circular rather than linear.
Since the Witchy Woo sends out MIDI data it is a very versatile instrument that can be used in various ways. In the example shown in the video the Witchy Woo is set to send an orchestral hit whenever tapped on the floor; It sends a momentary control that switches between two music channels to create a verse\chorus dynamic; It also sends 3 continuous controls which change the sound as if 3 knobs were twisted constantly. Twisting the X axis changes the panning, twisting the Y axis changes the pitch, while twisting the Z axis changes the filter.