The Sound of Gesture
music for violin, sensors and computer
Stevie Wishart composes and improvises with live electronics, violin, and voice interfaced with computer-based technology. The musician’s movements are extracted as data using tiny sensors (accelerometers, gyroscopes) on the hands and fingers, electric-field systems such as the Theremin on the violin, and a resistor in the form of a bend sensor on her bowing arm.
The music is generated by carefully selecting sounds and gestures that are most effective for “playing” new virtual instruments running on a laptop using granulation, filtering, and delay lines and include new instruments inspired by the physiology of the ear, developed in collaboration with the Physiological Laboratory at the University of Cambridge.
The musician then has the power to simultaneously transform the music using gestures familiar to the instrumentalist, either with or without her musical instrument.
- Stevie Wishart: composer/ musician/ concept
- Todor Todoroff: technical and systems director, sensor & sound analysis development, engineering, virtual instruments, Max/MSP and network co-ordination
- Nick Rothwell: software architect, computer music designer and programmer, Max/MSP and network coordination
- Ian Winter: neuro-scientist - auditory perception in terms of neural information processing, Department of Physiology, University of Cambridge
- Credits: Funded by a Sciart Production Award (2005-2006) from the Wellcome Trust awarded to Margie Medlin and Stevie Wishart. in collaboration with The Physiological Laboratory, University of Cambridge
- Project support: | ZKM | Zentrum fuer Kunst und Medientechnologie. Germany. http://www.zkm.de/, FoAM, Brussels, Belgium, STEIM "Studio for Electro Instrumental Music" Amsterdam.http://www.steim.nl ART ZOYD Centre Transfrontalier de Production et de Création Musicales, Valenciennes, France, www.artzoyd.com ARTeM (Art, Recherche, Technologie et Musique), Brussels.
The music for this project was initially developed as part of Quartet, directed and devised by Margie medlin. MORE ...
Sound of gesture
AUDIO SAMPLES
- Wishart has directed the development of an audio and gestural interface to control the computer as a violinist. The computer generated music moves between the speakers of the sound-dome to create sonic clouds around the acoustic sound and physical placement of the violin. ZKM|Zentrum fuer Kunst und Medientechnologie. Germany
Sound of Gesture : Selected audio excerpts
- Audio Sample : Sound of Gesture : Excerpt : Inner and Outer listen here
- Audio Sample : Sound of Gesture : Excerpt : Turn & Fly listen here
For more information on the music of Stevie Wishart