First video of the Madrona Labs Soundplane
The first public demonstration of the new Soundplane instrument from Madrona Labs! At the Decibel Festival in Seattle, September 2011. Thanks to all the participants and Decibel Festival! Find out more at http://madronalabs.com .
“Madrona Soundplane A, a force-sensitive surface for intimate controlof electronic music. What is intimate control? Instruments like the violin and hand drums give the player a very responsive connection to sound through their physical construction. In a state of creative flow, we stop thinking about these instruments as separate devices and speak directly through them. In a very real sense they become part of us.
On a typical MIDI keyboard, most of the information from each finger gesture is thrown away, and the rest is boiled down into a single 7-bit velocity value. The Soundplane A transmits x, y and pressure data at about 1000 samples per second, letting the synthesist move beyond the ADSR model for control and articulate each note individually, as on an acoustic instrument. An array of very responsive capacitive sensors detects a range of forces from an extremely light touch to a hard slap. A DSP calibrates the sensors dynamically and sends the data via USB.
The playing surface is a material custom developed for us, a flexible sheet of hardwood veneer bonded to a plastic backing for strength. The case is milled out of alder, a sustainably harvested Northwest hardwood. We have sourced all of the construction locally and will test and assemble by hand here. The entire instrument is about 28 inches wide by 8 inches deep by 1 inch thick. We think it will look great next to a monome.“
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