Although the previous incarnations of our future sounds articles have focused solely on physical instruments, today we have a look at something solely software based. It’s caused stirs since first conceptualised in 2000 and is now winning awards for innovation across the board. The concept underlying Melodyne is Local Sound Synthesis. Peter Neubäcker, creator of the program, first thought of the idea philosophically, with the desire to free sound from time. The question was posed symbolically – What does a stone sound like? – relating sound to a stone, which has a form but to which time is not really relevant. From this question came the idea that sound may exist independently of pitch and time. The program it self varies from other audio processors in that it doesn’t work to make audio samples longer or shorter but instead to view the clip as a landscape where different sounds can be found in different time locations. That landscape can be travelled through freely with the pitch of the sound at any location being an arbitrary characteristic of that sound. This manages to isolate what have previously been defined as inseparable aspects of sound: pitch, time, and timbre. It allows users to do what seems intuitively impossible, to manipulate individual notes within chords independently. Check out the video below for a better description of what is going on…
Archive for the ‘Instruments’ Category
Future Sounds – Melodyne
Monday, March 8th, 2010Matrixsynth
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010Going by it’s own subtitle “everything synth” MATRIXSYNTH, should give you a good idea of what to expect from this all-consuming treasure trove of keyboards, vocoders, synths and samplers. From all ends of the synthesis spectrum you can find comprehensive looks at digital recreations of Alicia Key’s own custom Yamaha grand piano to quirky art projects like the inkQuencer, a step-sequencer that plays music based on camera input – people can draw patterns on paper and then play back the patterns by holding the drawing in front of the camera.
Ye old synth
They’ve also keeping the inner geek of every synth lover alive with a pincer movement of retro advertisements (via Retro Synth Ads) and some photo’s of the fairer sex holding keyboards.
Girl geeks - probably Dutch, canals see.
If you are in the business of shopping for rare synths, you can find a lot of links to relevant eBay auctions through the site, such as for this Pink Casio SK-1.
Current bid $63.00
And of course, this post would not be complete without the obligatory Corvax Synth + Harvestman Hertz Donut Module Filter Self-oscillation demonstration… and many thanks to Dog for the heads-up.
Future Sounds – Tenori-On
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009I want to handle both light and sound simultaneously and pleasantly, as we play music or draw pictures. This is a theme I have been working on for a long time. Pursuing this idea further I have been developing the Tenori-On with particular attention given to the beauty of the light and sounds, the ease of performance, and as a musical instrument for the future – the design and quality of the instrument as a whole. In days gone by, a musical instrument had to have a beauty of shape as well of sound, it had to fit the player organically (the violin springs to mind). All these elements were once considered indispensable. Modern electronic instruments don’t have the inevitable relationship between the shape, the sound, and the player. What I have done is try to bring back these, once indispensable elements and build them in to a try musical instrument for the digital age. – Toshio Iwai
Ten out of ten tenori
Artist Toshio Iwai and Yamaha have collaborated to develop a musical instrument for the 21st century – the Tenori-On. A 16×16 matrix of LED switches creates a “visible music” interface allowing music to be played intuitively. The switches function as individual displays emitting light that emulates the related sound. When you push a switch for a short time, a ripple of light spreads out from the switch to others – corresponding with the sound you have chosen. If the switch is held down for slightly longer a dot of light remains indicating that the light & sound will play repeatedly – looped. People seem to quickly understand the relationship between the sound and light, thus even novice or non musicians can enjoy improvising and composing immediately. To play notes, you plot points on the dot-matrix as if you were drawing a picture.
Artists as diverse as Pole, Four Tet and Battles are queueing up to endorse this quite revolutionary instrument. Singer-songwriter Little Boots from Blackpool, England with her striking performance and electro-pop sound has been recently propelled into the public eye – scenes of her playing the Tenori-On at home on YouTube caught the attention of music lovers: “It’s a visual thing, live editing and building a beat onstage – people can see what they’re hearing. I’m personally quite fascinated by song structure it’s great when people can see how the layers combine through the animation. Also, I’m a sucker for futuristic gadgets – you could say there are two Tenori-On – one is a retro toy, the other is an advanced musical instrument.”
One of the best uses is free improvisation. Electronic music has a reputation for being boring to watch live, anything that can be done to get away from that, to make it as exciting as watching a rock band – to make it a physical process and demonstrate sound must surely be a good thing. It is a wonder why, with all the technological advancement and miniturization of studio technology that little has been done by way of live instrumentation. It may be that the designers of such things see sound, audio and by extension music as a laboratory exercise, and why it has taken a media artist such as Toshio Iwai to collaborate with an electronics giant like Yamaha to create an intuitive, advanced instrument such as this.
Wired.com Article on Futuristic Instruments
Future Sounds – Hang
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
Hanging out
Is it a wok? Is it a UFO? No it’s a Hang. Created in 2000 the Hang is a young musical instrument. It was created by the PANArt Company in Bern, Switzerland. It is the result of many years of research into resonating percussive instruments from around the world such as: gongs, gamelans and cowbells. Each Hang is tuned individually, players are encouraged to design their own “tone circle” thus the musician becomes part of the creation and customisation of the instrument, meeting their creative needs.
The top side of the Hang (the Ding) contains eight tone fields which form the “tone circle”, this circle surrounds a central dome which sounds like a gong. The underside (the Du) contains a hand sized hole for sound resonance and modulation. Players invite their hands to discover the instrument with their fingertips, thumbs and the heel of the palm. The creators say there are no rules for playing except one: the joy of music! This marriage between art and science creates a somewhat haunting but playful tone. A resonating harmonic note binded by the sound of the steel.
If you are interested in buying one, it may take some time. There are only two people in the world, the Hang makers (Sabina Schärer and Felix Rohner), who know how to wield the hammers on deep-drawn steel sheet blanks, which are then processed using a hardening procedure in a kiln. Periods when people can visit the Hangbauhaus and pick their Hang are already planned. The Hang makers are sending letters inviting those who are able to purchase a Hang. The letters contain a statement where they outline their point of view regarding the instrument and listening device. Felix Rohner and Sabina Schärer characterize the central aspect of their work as “harmony, equilibrium and proportion”. With the purchase agreement they engage in with their customers they want to establish a culture of trust and respect. The agreement PANArt has required since 2008 requests first rights to purchase back a Hang and discourages resale of a Hang by the owner at a price higher than at which it was obtained.
A statement from Hang makers Felix Rohner and Sabina Schärer
