interfaces & sensors

balance sensing floor surfaces (2007)

Commissioned by Open Systems, a sensor system was developed that let dancers control sound synthesis processes and so make music live on stage. Four triangular sensor surfaces were built, each consisting of rubber feet, a metal base and a suspended plexiglass surface. The pressure exerted by the foot of a dancer was measured at the three points of suspension, so the act of balancing on one foot was captured in enough detail for complex gesture following to be employed.

laser beam instrument (2007)

Built for the Making New Waves Festival, this system let a dancer play music by interrupting laser beams. The control data was processed to drive sample playback algorithms. A narrative was developed in collaboration with the dancer that evolved around the struggle against enclosed space.

augmented shakuhachi (2006)

Commissioned by the Making New Waves festival, an instrument augmentation was built for a shakuhachi. Pressure pads were placed on the bore of the instrument, which also had an accelerometer attached. It allowed the performer to control complex audio effects applied to the sound of the instrument.

velocity sensitive sampling instrument (2005)

Commissioned by Sonsoles Alonso, an advanced sample playback and processing application was built to be used with a velocity sensitive keyboard. Various control rate analyses and behaviour simulations were implemented to create a complex digital instrument. The piece 'Leopold' was written for this custom instrument.

cello extension (2004)

Developed in collaboration with Sasha Agranov, a set of buttons was placed on the body of the instrument that enabled the performer to switch between different sound processing algorithms. Two pedals were made available to control parameters of the effects, allowing the musician to articulate the electronic counterpart. A piece called 'drop' was produced, which can be found on the Knal (2005) CD, available in the music section.