Rainlith 2.0

Rainlith 2.0 captures the movement of the audience and reacts to this by moving it’s large rain-stick around. The sound of the stick is processed in real-time and fed back to the room via speakers. The nice thing about this kinetic sound installation is how it combines the acoustic sound of the rain-stick with electronic sounds, blending together both sound worlds.

The installation, created by Rui Gato, is located in an old grain silo, which seems to be like a perfect situation for a piece like this, as the sounds blend together perfectly, due to the acoustic properties of the silo.

DJ Light

DJ Light is an interactive light and sound installation. Well, it’s not interactive for all visitors; there is one person who can orchestrate the light and sound performance. Move your body and conduct the installation like an orchestra. 

The installation was created by Cinimod Studio. 85 inflatable globes shift colors according to the ‘conductor’s’ movements and a multi-directional sound system adds a field of sound to the experience. An impressive job. 

83,7 Kilo Ohm

German artist Erwin Stache created the interactive installation 83,7 Kilo Ohm. The installation is placed in public space, inviting passers-by to touch it, play with it and thus create their own sound and music with it. If more people touch the installation, they can also shake hands and touch each other to influence the sound. 

Each time two or more of the metal tubes are touched, the sound, playing from the speaker attached to the base, is triggered and manipulated. Some of the (more interesting, if you ask me) parts are more abstract, electronic sounding, while others are precomposed pieces of music a participant can ‘conduct’. 

Click to read more ...

The Space In Between / Alpha-ville festival

The Alpha-ville festival is a new London-based digital arts, music and culture event that will take place on the 17th and 18th September 2010. The theme of this year’s festival is Visionary Cities.

One of the acts performing live at the festival is The Space In Between, a collaboration between electronic composer Nikka and visual software developer Alba G. Corral. Their video “Melophase” (shown above) gives you a impression of their work. It is a good example of how sound and visuals can come together and interact in one experience.  

Click to read more ...

Oscillare; An Interactive Dawn

Almost a year ago I posted a work-in-progress video of Oscillare as it was presented at last years Sonar festival. Oscar Sol from Electronic Performers, the creators of this project was so kind to send me an update about the completion of the project and as we can see in the video, it has become an impressive piece of work. 

Oscillare; An Interactive Dawn is an interactive multimedia dance performance. Four accelerometers, a gyroscope and a wireless video camera capture the movements of the dancer, which are used to generate and influence the sound and images on the screen. 

Click to read more ...

Pappeltalks

While for some of us the CD is far from obsolete, it is a fact that it is not as easy for an artist to sell a physical album as it was in the pre-iPod era. And as we can buy an album on iTunes for half the price we had to pay in the store, that is what many of us choose.

Limited editions of interesting boxes might convince music buyers otherwise. Like this design by Jaroslav Juřica. The first time you open the package the cover graphics are created. A limited edition: only 60 pieces are manufactured. 

Via Dave Haynes

Credit Synthesis

This little interactive installation made by Jonathan Vingiano reads the information magnetically stored on credit cards and translates it into sound.

Nothing too ambitious here, but a funny little piece of data sonifying art. I don't know what kind of algorithm is used to generate the sound, and if it would be possible to learn to understand what is on the cards? 

(via @Rodrigo_Medina)

Bacterial Orchestra

A "self-organizing evolutionary musical organism", that's how the makers of Bacterial Orchestra define this sound installation. The cells in this organism are made of speakers and microphones, listening to the sounds that are surrounding them.

Visitors interact with Bacterial Orchestra by simply making a sound. I like the idea of having a system that takes your input and gives it back in a new form. The installation is created by Olle Cornéer and Martin Lübcke.

Beautiful circuits by Peter Vogel

‘Duo’ is a beautiful interactive electronic sculpture by Peter Vogel. The components and circuits, normally hidden away in boxes, are displayed in various forms in his art works, exposing their vulnerability to the audience.

Duo is an interactive installation. The sounds coming from the speakers can be influenced by moving in front of the artwork, which almost looks like a note bar from a distance. A score for the electronic music it’s generating. See www.bitforms.com for more information as well as other pieces by Peter Vogel.

Akousmaflore: sensitive musical plants

One of the projects presented at the Futuresonic festival this week is Akousmaflore by Scenocosme from France. Akousmaflore is a small garden consisting of plants hanging from the ceiling. By touching the plants, or coming very close to them you cause them to produce sound. It’s like an interactive garden.

The sounds come from speakers placed around the room, so it’s not like each plant has its own speaker. This makes the plants like a musical interface rather than an instrument themselves. One of the aims of the project is to bridge the gap between nature and technology. It certainly creates a beautiful image, as you can see in this video: