A monome is a simple box, the size of a textbook (or bigger, depending how you build it), with anywhere from 64 to 256 light-up buttons on its face—it looks like a game of Simon on steroids, or a really universal remote control. It doesn’t do anything by itself, and the buttons don’t necessarily light up when you push them—like a game of Simon on narcotics, or a remote control you spilled a drink on.

But once it’s hooked up to another device (usually a computer) via USB cable, you can use software (like MLR, the program Weitekamp uses) to tell it what you want it to do: When you press a button, the monome sends a signal to the software, which will both respond and/or a signal back to light up any number of buttons (the buttons themselves are on a completely different circuit from their light bulbs). Used as a musical instrument, the monome can split a single sample into equal fractions across a row of buttons; conceivably, you could add a sample for every row of buttons and loop them top of each other, like weaving a giant musical tapestry. It’s mainly used as a performance tool, to add manual functionality to music that’s often and easily automated.

Pretty cool designs out there, this guy got some nice gear @ 2.29s

http://monome.org/

 

Yeah it's nice but freak'n expensive.

Also does it have a glass surface l(like a tablet) or physical membranes with tactile feedback (like a push)?