Garden music jam
Comprising my mother’s voice and the sounds of her garden, this video is my first Pogo mix of the real world. I hope I’ve done my mother justice in capturing her passion. Enjoy!
MP3: http://www.pogomix.net/the-story-behi…
Strange musical instruments
Speaking of strange musical instruments comes Nick Demopoulos’s Snomid.
The Smomid is a unique instrument, created by Demopoulos. Its name is an acronym for “String Modeling Midi Device.
In this video, Demopoulos is experimenting with the idea of using the Smomid to control drumbeats:
I didn’t utilize all the functions I have, but some of them include reversing the directions of all the drum samples, different rhythms for different drums, scrambling up a drumbeat and having certain drums play random rhythms.
See Demopoulos’s site for more info.
Nice demo of experimental Seaquence
Seaquence is an experimental musical petri-dish. Adopting a biological metaphor, Seaquence allows you to create and combine musical lifeforms into unique, dynamic compositions.
This is a short demo showing how it works.
Visit the project at seaquence.org and try for yourself. Great fun!
Project by Ryan Alexander, Gabriel Dunne, and Daniel Massey.
In collaboration with Gray Area Foundation for the Arts.
Virtual sounds and drones
Treating the map editors in current video game technology as virtual sound stages, Tamara Yadao and Chris Burke build immersive, electroacoustic spaces with virtual instruments and timed sonic events.
http://vimeo.com/15433728
This is the new Casperelectronics Drone Lab. The Drone Lab is an analog sound module specially designed for making dense, rich drones.
For more info including ordering info and schematics (build your own!) go to:
http://casperelectronics.com/finished…
Music at your fingertips
“Light Frequency Fingertips” is composed of four fingercaps, each containing light sensitive phototransistors. The fingercaps (made of bicycle tubes) are especially customized for the thumb and forefinger of both hands, and transform light frequencies into acoustic signals. Light, emitted by the displays of activated mobile phones, functions as the origin of the sounds. As each mobile phone’s display generates a different light frequency, each results in an audio signal with a different pitch. In addition, other electronic devices, such as flashing bicycle lights, can be used to generate rhythmic tones.
Performance: If the sensors are connected to 3 volt button cell batteries and the stereo jack is plugged into an amplifier, it’s time to play! Any subtle movement of the fingertips creates a slightly audible change in sound. Fading and mixing is also done by moving the fingers. Naturally some mobile phones switch into sleep mode while others stay active, so this adds a extended visual feature to the performance. In order to avoid interference or a disturbing hum, the instrument should be used in dark environments.
More info: http://www.robertmathy.com/lightfrequ…
Experimenting with accelerometers in music
This is a test of a 2-Axis accelerometer for use with a new musical interface I am co-designing with Shih-Yu Hwang. The sensor is connected to an Arduino which is transmitting serial data to Processing. Processing converts the serial to OSC which is being sent to Reaktor. The sensor circuit is in need of some decent signal conditioning, but glad to get this working!
Sounds in flux
What sounds do these moving abstract images make? Candas Sisman created this nice example of how motion and sound can come together. The objects twist and turn in a way that would be impossible in the real world, yet the sounds they make seem to fit to them perfectly.
F L U X was inspired by the sculptures of Ilhan Koman, and created for the Ilhan Koman Hulda Festival in Istanbul, 22 September – 31 October.
First musical instrument with dimensions measured in mere micrometres
Strings a fraction of the thickness of a human hair, with microscopic weights to pluck them: researchers and students from the MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology of the University of Twente have succeeded in constructing the first musical instrument with dimensions measured in mere micrometres – a ‘micronium’ – that produces audible tones. A composition specially written for the instrument was performed in Enschede on Sunday 26 September.
The tiny musical instrument is made up of springs that are only a tenth of the thickness of a human hair, and vary in length from a half to a whole millimetre. A mass of a few dozen micrograms is hung from these springs.
The mass is set in motion by so-called ‘comb drives’: miniature combs that fit together precisely and shift in relation to each other, so ‘plucking’ the springs and creating sounds. The mass vibrates with a maximum deflection of just a few micrometres. This minimal movement can be accurately measured, and produces a tone. Each tone has its own mass spring system, and six tones fit on a microchip. By combining a number of chips, a wider range of tones can be achieved.
“The tuning process turned out to be the greatest challenge”, says Engelen. “We can learn a lot from this project for the construction of other moving structures. Above all, this is a great project for introducing students to micromechanics and clean room techniques.
How to play the theremin with a Jellyfish
Artist Yuri Suzuki has created a range of musical wonders including an electronic instrument played by jellyfish, a tuneful train track and a miniature vehicle that interprets different colors as sounds.
The pieces were all exhibited at Sound Interjection!, a show that has just finished at KK Outlet in Hoxton, London.
Suzuki is a product designer and electronic musician who produces work exploring the link between sound and objects. The exhibition — which sees Suzuki collaborate with a number of other artists including Oscar Diaz and Jerszy Seymour — encourages visitors to interact with the pieces to create their own unique sounds.
Sound Chaser lets visitors assemble pieces of old vinyl records that have been sliced up into small pieces. The pieces are of even width, so that when they’re connected they create something akin to a Scalextrix track upon which a miniature car with a stylus drives. The car then plays the newly created track like a record player thanks to a built-in speaker.
Using a hacked Super8 projector
Nice demonstration from this performance
This is a totally diferent work from my previous ones and my first project playing solo with only an analog synth with which i have been playing in collective ensembles for more than four years in improvised contexts.
The super 8 projector was hacked so that the amplitude of the sound played controls the intensity of the light bulb and also control the speed of the projector flickering.
The performance develops in several stages, with different burning processes and different sound approaches.
DATAMASKIN
