Imogen Heap performing live with data gloves as controllers
Imogen Heap provides a cracking performance without any instruments, just glove controllers for overdubbing and other processing.
Debuted at the recent TEDGlobal conference in Edinburgh, the gloves incorporate stereo wrist-mics like the ones Immi has been using in her live performances on recent tours, which allow her to sample and loop any sound within her reach.
They add a whole new dimension to this idea however, by allowing her to wirelessly control the sounds using hand movements and gestures. In this clip she: high-pass filters audio by “cupping” the audio in her hands; builds “air drum” loops from scratch; controls volume, reverb and panning by “conducting” and even uses some kind of time-scrunch/scratching processing towards the end.
Immi says the idea for the gloves came to her in a dream, although other people have done similar things years before – for example Julie Wilson-Bokowiec & Mark Alexander Bokowiec’s Bodycoder project.
As always though Imogen brings a unique accessibility to the technology. Just as she uses the internet to create genuine connections between herself, her music and her fans, so the gestures she uses with the data gloves are musical, intuitive and easily comprehensible to the audience.
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