An Interesting new interface with a lot of possibilities and functionality Eigenharp Alpha Details A professional level instrument which allows the musician to play and improvise using a limitless range of sounds with virtuoso skill. The unique design of the keys makes this the most expressive electronic musical instrument ever made. The Alpha can play and record loops, change scale and key, transpose, alter tempo, program beats, create arrangements, switch and layer multiple sounds, all while the musician is performing live on stage. Available in a variety of finishes, it has 120 highly sensitive keys, 12 percussion keys, 2 strip controllers, a breath pipe and numerous pedal inputs. This gives almost endless possibilities for flexible keyboard layouts, fast instrument switching and expressive musical control. The comprehensive software system provides a wealth of musical performance features, including playback of its own native instruments, many common software plugins, soundfonts or midi instruments. The Alpha requires a Mac computer to run. What’s in the box? Eigenharp Alpha Eigenharp Pro case by Hiscox. Product Activation card for website support and tutorial materials. Breath pipe. Two mouthpieces. Leather strap. Eigenharp Base Station. 6M Alpha to Base Station connecting cable. 3M Base Station to computer USB2 connecting cable. Eigenlabs laptop/Base Station and cables carry bag. Eigenlabs 8GB USB stick with latest install software Macintosh and getting started tutorials.
1.2m X 1.2m aluminium frame with a grid of focused infrared beams intersecting at the right angles. Every beam or every intersection individually programmable by means of supplied software utility. Playing is accomlished by moving hands or any other part of the body within the frame of the instrument.
With Hidden Noises is a replica of Marcel Duchamp’s sculpture “A Bruit Secret”. The instrument is made of a ball of twine sandwiched between engraved brass plates. Two x-y accelerometers and three tilt switches are inside the ball of twine. A MaxMSP program converts gestures into sound.
AudioCubes are a modular live performance instrument that let you shape sound, create music and perform live through hands-on interaction with wireless intelligent objects.
AudioCubes offer new ways to interact with your existing audio software, beyond what is possible with classic knob boxes and trigger pads. They can be used for simple filter sweeps as well as infinitely complex setups in which the musical information they generate will depend on how the objects interact with each other and with their user.
Multiple users’ AudioCubes talk to each other wirelessly without complicated setup. High-speed, high-resolution, better-than-MIDI sensor technology makes sure even the most subtle performance gestures are captured.
TuISt (Transformable uber Interface for Stardom) is an emotionally driven interface taking on our inner desires and fantasies of instantaneously becoming superstars (and momentarily living under the skin of our idols) and on our instinctive imitation of the musical performers gestures as expressions of sounds. Tuist is a multi-instrument interface based on a single object with minimal gesture input surfaces and various modes of use through different positioning and orientation towards the user’s body. Multi-track gesture recording and playback/loop features also enable for multi-arrangement and composition by allowing the user to record and interact with his own performances in time. Its objective was the development of an intuitive and playful interface for novices, capable of providing explorayory interactions in an enjoyable experience inspired by our significant mimicking gestures of ‘real’ musicians and our private ambitions of creating music.
Jaime Oliver – general concept, technical design, programming
Matthew Jenkins – concept, design
The Silent Drum Controller is a transparent drum shell with an elastic head. As one presses it, the head deforms and a variety of shapes with peaks are created reflecting the shape of the hand. These shapes are captured by a video camera that sends these images to the computer, which analyzes them and outputs the tracked parameters.
These variables are sent to a mapping / score-control system. Through several discrete gestures the performers gestures control the progression through an internal score, which is in charge of moving between different mappings, while the continuous gestures shape the sounds themselves.
The monome is an interface sharing many similarities with the Tenori-On. It consist of a reconfigurable grid of backlit keypads which connects to a computer. Interaction between the keys and lights is determined by the application running on the computer. There is no hard-wired functionality.
The monome is made available in limited edition releases. There are currently three sizes — two fifty six (16×16), one twenty eight (16×8), and sixty four (8×8).
Zoybar is a modular hardware platform for creating custom electric string instruments and effects.
Ziv writes — “The basic Zoybar kits enable you to assemble a variety of electric string instruments that could be mounted with different sound effects. The Zoybar components provide research and development tools as a sustainable, playable prototype platform. The same modular parts can be assembled as different instruments, can be change during the performance and also be mounted with numerous special effects, just by adding and changing their position across the profile groves.
Zoybar.net is a co-creation community inspired to develop and create innovative music instruments and effects in an open platform environment. Every new effect or feature that would be created by an independent developer could become relevant to the whole Zoybar users and community. Almost any application can be easily attached to the Zoybar platform, just by adding and changing its position across the profile groves with common bolts and screws.”
George Logemann uses the Polhemus Corp Isotrak — a six-dimensional spatial “joystick” that operates over a hemisphere of about five feet in diameter. George writes that the Isotrak provides “flexibility over a realstic human expression space and a significant number of dimensions available to communicate gestures”.
Bloom is a generative music application by Seth Sandler. Press anywhere on the screen to create circles that grow and ‘bloom.’ As they fade out and re-appear, they play a note. The note is based on the x-axis. As you move right, the notes go higher.
