How to use AT switch interfaces with Ensemble – Crick USB Switch Box

Our Gamepad Plugin for the Ensemble software opens up lots of new ways to trigger and play sounds. Anything that a PC sees as a gamepad device will immediately appear in the Device Monitor as something that can be used by the Ensemble. This covers Xbox controllers, Rockband drum kits and the usual games joysticks.

Something you may not be aware is that a lot of the assistive technology switch interfaces for computers also appear as joysticks. This means that these can also be used within the Ensemble software. I can’t guarantee that everything will work but we’re adding blocks to the library for each device me manage to test.

The latest of these is the Crick USB Switch Box which I managed to get hold of for a few minutes during my last visit to London. It’s a neat little device available from many different distributors, as well as from Crick direct for about £100.

The Crick Block works in the same way as other input blocks, with a drop down menu allowing you to select each of the four switch inputs.Just download the block to your PC, unzip the folder and then use Palette Manager to import the block into the Designer software. Remember you’ll need a licence that includes the Gamepad Plugin, plus the actual Plugin software.

A really neat way to put together a basic switch based music system in a school.

Download “Crick USB Switch Box”

Cric_Gamepad_SwitchInput.zip – Downloaded 1083 times – 108.60 KB