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Hyperinstruments
Hyperviolin
A creative group at MIT is doing unusual and fascinating things with music, people, and technology, ranging from unusual and fascinating new intruments like the hyperviolin and hyperpiano to making ways for hospital patients to write music.
The Hyperinstruments project at MIT, led by composer and inventor Tod Machover, has developed the hyperviolin (pictured above), for example, which uses electronics and advanced computer programming to extend the sonic range of an acoustic instrument and its player, as well as introducing new possibilities for the transformation of sound. Expressive gestures can be interpreted and mapped in real time, allowing, for example, a player to affect other sounds (electronics, human voice, etc.) by their bow speed and pressure.
Other applications for this combination of music, people, and technology are Music Shapers, tactile “squeezable” musical objects for kids; Creating Music by Listening, a “system that analyzes an MP3 collection, models its structural, perceptual, and musical content, and resynthesizes new, personalized, and controlable songs”; and advancing health through music by studying the effects of music on patients in hospitals.
Related ‘unusual’ instruments
- Musical Instrument Digital Interface
- Talking Stick, used by Laurie Anderson
- Multimodal music stand
- Chapman Stick
- Long String Instrument. See also my previous post on its inventor and composer, Ellen Fullman
- Bowed Piano Ensemble
- Harry Partch
Note: Anyone having trouble locating recordings, let me know and I’ll get you what information I have. -Dave
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