Created by Sebastian Trump, Orphion is a musical instrument in-between string and percussion. Aim is to create easy or virtuosic melodies just by moving fingers on virtual pads. Included are a several layouts and depending on the surface area of your touch, the sound is softer or on the contrary with more attack. Here is what is included:

• Different articulations from soft to plucked to hardly slapped
• Natural interaction
• Extend your ways of expression as a percussionist, guitarist, pianist or other musician
• 9 transposable pad-layouts with different tonalities from easy to complex (Five, Bluesscale, Pentawheel, Piano, Guitar Strings, 5ths circle, 3rd Matrix, Bassdrums, Waterdrops)
• 8 individual voices for 8 fingers (4 on iPad 1)

Continue reading.... Orphion – Musical instrument for iPad [iPad, Sound]

Karl Bartos (electronic musician, ex-Kraftwerk, co-composer of songs like The Robots, The Model, Computer World,…) and Masayuki Akamatsu (media artist and author of various iPhone apps) created a 16 step music sequencer now available for free on the AppStore. Created in support of Red Cross site, the app was presented in the form of installation in Kyoto comprising 35 iPads and inviting guests to download the app to the iPhone and use the room as an instrument

Continue reading.... Mini-Composer [iPad, iPhone, Sound]

WaveShaper by Damien Di Fede is an audio synthesis app that lets you control a sound wave on an iPad. Use two fingers to control four parameters in real-time shaping and deforming included 20 audio files or  add your own audio files using the Documents folder in iTunes. There are also 8 preset slots for storing control point positions, touch-and-slide on the presets to scrub between them and you can share your recordings on SoundCloud from within the app.

Continue reading.... WaveShaper [iPad, openFrameworks, Sound]

Created by Bartholomäus Traubeck, Years is a record player that translates wood’s year rings into sound. Using a ps eye camera, the grain on the slices of wood is read and converted into music. Includes modified turntable, computer, camera, acrylic glass, veneer, approx. 90x50x50 cm.

Continue reading.... Years [vvvv, Arduino]

[Photo: Anne Helmond]

Crackle-canvas is an ongoing electronics project of the Netherlands-based media artist Tom Verbruggen (aka token). This endeavour playfully challenges the conventions of artistic consumption by reimagining gallery space as an interactive musical playground rather than an arena of sullen observation. Each Crackle-canvasis a modular ‘synthesizer painting’ equipped with switches and knobs that allow rudimentary control over the sound generated by the device. While these objects can be played individually, things get considerably more interesting when they are patched together into a collaborative cacaphony. Verbruggen has developed several iterations of these devices that range from stark white minimalist surfaces to more colourful, user-friendly controllers complete with graphic prompts for novice operators. While there is an abundance of video documentation of the artist performing on arrays of these controllers, the work is most interesting when there is are participants involved – the above image from a recent exhibit in Paris speaks to the type of engagement these objects engender.

Continue reading.... Crackle Canvas [Environment, Sound]

A few months ago, Marc Tiedemann got asked to come up with an animations for the upcoming documentary ”DAIKU | 10000 Japaner singen Beethovens Neunte” to be aired 31.12.2011 15:20 on ARTE. They required a main title and graphics within the movie. Friedemann Hottenbacher, the director of the piece, showed him the work of Malinowski which turned out to be the key inspiration for the graphics.

Thinking of Japan and Osaka, big cities as well as tradition came to mind. So the result should in a way resemble both while still keeping the aesthetics of a notational system. So I started to program my very own Music Machine based on a simple FFT analysis via processing and played around with shapes and the depth in 3D space.

Continue reading.... Daiku [Processing, Sound]

Versus is the latest installation David Letellier, combining the robot mechanics with David’s long time area of exploration - kinetic sound installations, beautifully made. Previously collaborated with Lab[au] on Tessel (see detailed post on CAN), Versus consisting of two kinetic sculptures placed face to face in a space. Each sculpture is made out of 12 triangular panels, hinged and powered by six linear actuators, controlled by a custom software. At the center of each corolla, a loudspeaker and a microphone allow to play and record sounds.

At regular intervals, each sculpture produces a sound, simultaneously recorded and analyzed by the opposite sculpture, which then moves according to the frequencies of this sound. Like a feedback loop, it then plays back the recorded sound, with the errors and disturbances caused by the reverberating space and the visitors.

Continue reading.... Versus [c++, Objects]

DaDa Box by Jifei Ou is an interactive storytelling object. It adopts the idea of “Collage” from Dadaism and allows a person to generate stories by a simple tangible action: shaking. When the box is shaken, a story contained inside switches its order randomly by sentence, and starts playing to the listener.

Continue reading.... DaDa Box [Arduino, Objects]

In collaboration with Rump-Recordings, Futura Epsis 1 (the collective behind GRID) have just released QDD, an iPhone game and music promo for Quasi Dub Development’s newest LP “Limousine to the Guillotine”.

The app combines game mechanics with unlockable tracks featuring remixes from artists like Thomas Knak aka Opiate, Jason Forrest , Kim Hiorthøy, Guido Möbius and Loopspool (Tied + Tickled Trio). Task in the game is to destroy enemy cells by firing particles from your own cells. As you fire the particles your cells reduce in size which can then be merged by applying multitouch to the screen. Each enemy cells has a lifeline and they also fire back. As you complete the level, next level and remix unlock.

Made with Objective-C and OpenCL. Effects made in After Effects.

More screenshots and demo video below.

Continue reading.... QDD [iPhone, Sound, Games]

Voice Lessons (2011) by John Keston is an electronic, audio device that interrogates the popular myth that every musical instrument imitates the human voice. Touching the screen allows the participant to manipulate the visuals and vocalizations of the “voice teacher” as he recites vocal warm up exercises.

John describes the piece “in the space between a musical instrument and voice lesson”. Developed using MaxMSP, the installation allows you to move the touch point left, right, up, and down to explore both visual and auditory possibilities. Rapid high pitched loops occur while touching near the top of the screen while lower pitched longer loops are heard near the bottom.

Continue reading.... Voice Lessons [MaxMSP]