I really really want to purchase a Walking Stick ribbon controller from Psionic Soundworks (to use with my Voyager). Do any of you 'foogers have any tips/connections? Does anyone know if they ever plan on producing those again?
Thanks
His alias is chromium on Muff’s forum:
http://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/
He is a neighbor of mine. There is a plan to make a new one. I understand it to be somewhere between the old walking stick and an Appendage. ( I have the last of the original v2 walking sticks. It is NOT going anywhere! )
Aww man, these are discontinued really?!?
Late to the thread… but yes, I do indeed have plans for another Walking Stick, and as of late last month I am actively working on the first batch. Nailing down dates is always tough for me due to other commitments, and the fact that I build and distribute them in small batches by hand, by myself - and so I tend to operate on the “it’ll be where its at” schedule 
The good news is that when I do advertise them, it means that they have already been funded, built, and they are ready to ship. Hopefully soon (Dec-Jan timeframe?), assuming I can keep the momentum.
Thanks for the interest!
So, I’m on the list for one, aren’t I, Joe?
BTW, I’m gonna be selling off a ton of stuff. You interested in the A100 and Leslie?
Definitely interested in another green one! 
You bet! PIng me anytime if you are interested, and you’re always welcome to come try one out when the first batch is fully baked.
I can’t believe you are selling the Hammond! I’m set in that department, with my little M101/145 setup. Still love that thing, and it fits well in what little space I have.
Hey I think I still have the rest of that green stain here 
I’ll definitely offer other finishing services, beyond the walnut-esque stains. Done a few in whitewash and “piano black” finishes in the past as well.
Good news! Been fantasizing about getting one to use with my Voyager.
I took a look at the manual. I see the Walking Stick can be used to trigger notes independently of the keyboard. But if I’m holding down a note on the keyboard, then I touch the Walking Stick, will the note jump to where I touched the ribbon, or will the note stay where it is until I move my finger on the ribbon?
I would like to get one for my LP Tribute. Let me know when they are available.
The behavior can vary depending on the synth, and how the CV inputs are integrated.
My experiences have only been with the legacy Moog products - specifically, a Model D and Multimoog. In those synths, the CV coming from the ribbon is summed with the keyboard CV.
These controllers output a positive-going CV, with 0v at the leftmost side of the ribbon. With the older Moogs mentioned above, pressing the ribbon at the 0v position will cause no change in notes, and sliding up the ribbon surface will bend the note upward (or facilitate trills and vibrato, etc…). Maybe someone here can confirm that the Voyager/Phatty functions similarly when using external CV controllers?
In previous Walking Stick versions, the pressure sensor output could double as a gate (v-trig). Another alternative with those was to just drone the synth, turn the filter cutoff all the way down until the sound disappears, and use the pressure CV to open up the filter as the ribbon is played.
As FYI- This next version I’m working on will offer ribbon CV, pressure CV, related attenuators, and a gate pushbutton with its own output. No track and hold option at this point, and so the ribbon will still respond like a stringed instrument - snapping back to the open-position when released.
I do have a controller design (Greg alluded to that above) that I may introduce in the future to add additional features like t/h and attenuverters, but for now I’m trying to keep things simple, self-contained, and cost effective. I am designing the enclosures in this next batch in a way that could support retrofitting of new controller interfaces in the future - when/if I’m able to release them (rather than be forced into replacing the entire controller).
Oh- and no more hardwired cable whips!
Hope this info helps!
Current build status, as depicted in my ultra high-tech woodworking shop…
That is high tech Especially when you work by candle light (lantern in the corner on the floor)
Is that a grizzly sander? Love that green color.
What it lacks in OSHA compliance, it makes up for in ambience!
I think the belt sander is of “Central Machinery” origin. Harbor Freight- Yay! (hey, it still works…)
That makes it a Taiwanese belt sander trying to look like a high class Taiwanese belt sander… Clever…
Stephen
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Thanks for the clarfication, chromium! The snap-back behavior sounds fine to me.
Yeah I like it too, due to my affinity for stringed things… but I know that the t/h behavior is desirable. Maybe someday… but then again Eowave and Doepfer have that pretty well covered, and I’m obviously not geared to compete with that caliber of manufacturing. I’m more of a artisan/hobbyist/(hack?)
My biggest holdup with introducing a more elaborate controller interface is my lack of experience with SMT (and startup costs), and the rather challenging (to me) board layout. I’d want to keep all of that stuffed in the same, small, self-contained form factor. Not a lot of room to work with there!
Cheers
To me, T/H is the most important feature a ribbon can have. Saves a ton of ancillary patching and modules. Also allows for long release times.
Believe me, I’ve struggled a lot around the whole track/hold feature.
That there hints at the biggest challenge in bringing it into the controller. The t/h circuit itself is fairly simplistic, but the component overhead needed to reliably trigger it really ratchets up the complexity (to ~50 components in my design). Of course, Eowave has the right idea… do it in the digital domain.
Things like the old Moog ribbon, Ondes, and string instruments in general got me thinking about other alternatives that would keep the price-point in the realm of reality… such as the use of one hand to articulate the note-on/off, and the other to control pitch (ribbon) and dynamics (pressure). It actually works well in practice - since the performer can essentially provide the manual “track and hold” with one hand, and control when the release stage fires… or latch the gate on with the other… but you are correct that it won’t be to everyone’s taste. It’s just yet another twist on the same old concepts.
On this go around, I have the entire build process very thoroughly documented, and I’m actually timing every step in order to derive a per-unit build time/cost (…or rather, opportunity cost). Weighed against the sales, as well as my own limitations as to how many of these I can physically produce (especially given my archaic approach, per the above pic), I’ll be able to assess whether the next step might be worth the time and investment… and also whether it makes sense to try and outsource some aspects at huge expense… maybe the board layout (as an accelerator to getting that going), enclosure builds (possibly via CAD/CAM), etc…
…or simply come to the realization that this is all insane, and I should be building guitar efx instead
Anyway, just my rambling thoughts… Hey, this is kind of therapeutic!
If anybody is interested in buying mine, it’s for sale (whitewash stain).
But you have to buy the matching Voyager Old School that is attached to it