Stefan Tiedje describes Les Ondes Memorielles as —
“It’s a software (Max/MSP) controlled by a normal fader box and keyboard, and other assignable controllers, which allows to play a memory of the sounds heard before. It will play back the memory modified though (pitched, stretched, with rythms and melodies).
The real time control is the essential part, as its intended to imrovise the playback of the memory…
A memory of sound, which consists of a delay line with 8 taps and 8 buffers. All with a maximum duration of 90 seconds. Each tap has a pitch shift, a feedback and na additional send. Pitches can be controlled with a keyboard and/or an algorithmic process…”
Rolf Gehlhaar: designer and programmer of current system
Philippe Prevot (F) and Per Hartmann (UK): earlier systems software
A number of proprietary ultrasonic ranging units (8-10) overlook an empty space (40 – 80 msq). This ranging system measures the positions and movements of persons (1 – 10) in the space; the data is used to create ‘musical topologies’, to trigger sounds/influence compositional algorithms.
SOUND=SPACE is an interactive multi-user musical environment in which visitors trigger and influence the production of sounds and souns sequences merely by moving about an empty space surveyed by an ultrasonic echolocation system. Since its development it has been displayed publicly worldwide, becoming a particular favourite with special needs groups primarily because it makes creative musical expression accessible to persons generally excluded. SOUND=SPACE is still being explored by visitors and participants in creative workshops for special needs groups. At the time of writing one of the systems is installed permanently in the Casa da Musica, Porto, Portugal, where workshops for special needs groups are taking place weekly.
Jason Clark, Peter Fallon, Jacob Fromer, James Hughes, co-designers
Paul Lehrman’s students at Tufts University built a number of new musical instruments.
One of the projects was the Octable, an eight-sided table with controls for four musicians playing manually and algorithmically-derived bass, percussion, and lead parts, and operating a mixer.
The Octable is a musical table with four stations: bass, drums, lead, and a mixer. The bass, drum, and lead stations are basically 3 separate instruments brought together by the mixer.
