a study of gesture-based electronic musical instruments
December 13th, 2001
What if you could just wave your hands in the air and create music?
If you happen to be a professional music conductor then you are one of the few people that could make that fantasy a reality. However, assuming you don’t happen to have an orchestra at your disposal (or the space, for that matter), then the following information may be of some use to you.
Researchers at a number of universities have developed ways for performers to express themselves musically, while operating outside the confines of conventional instruments. Gesture-based electronic musical instruments use computers to interpret motion from a wide variety of sensory devices, which can be converted into various aspects of the music - such as tempo, pitch, or timbre.
The following report explores the various light, motion, and pressure sensing devices used in current gesture-related electronic instruments, and investigates how the computer uses the sensory information to generate music.
View the report here.
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Check out the reactable:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h-RhyopUmc
It’s a synth that uses blocks…
You just have to see the demo.
It’s definitely a push towards a more intuitive synth.
Shawn, awesome link! I’ve seen an earlier version of that before, but I see it’s come a long way since. I would love to own one someday, but they’re not commercially available (yet).
However, Microsoft (of all people) has an interface that is somewhat similar: http://www.microsoft.com/surface that will be available very soon. I can only hope there will be a music program as detailed as that one availble for it…
Look ma, no instruments!