I just pulled this link off that website, it's a review of some of that guy's ideas. I must admit I thought it was all some kind of hoax project till I read this, a special kind of nutter for sure!
http://indyweek.com/durham/2003-11-19/music.html
Is This It?
This kind of goes some way to being a sort of "new" instrument that Tjwett was talking about. Here's a clip from a review:
"Shinth Tour
Author: Liz Armstrong
Date: December 12, 2003
While fiction writers are busy imagining an apocalyptic showdown between man and machine,
Chicago's own Peter Blasser is demonstrating how the two depend on each other by making music with his
homemade electronic instruments, called shinths. A shinth is an exposed circuit board with no electronic
inputs that produces sound when a human touches it with his fingers and places a conductive spoon that's
hooked to an amplifier in his mouth, sending a small dose of voltage through his body. Literally acting as a
conductor, whoever's digging in becomes part of the instrument. The results tend to be soft and
otherworldly, but the sounds you can make (a finger running along the edge of a crystal glass, the buzz of a
faraway swarm of bees, fluttering wings, a creaky ship rocking from side to side, weeping, groaning, bits of
static) depends entirely on how you caress the circuits. "To make a shinth," says Blasser, "you must
eliminate all intentions or hierarchy or goals. In electronic design this is difficult because practicality has
overwhelmed the field--there are no wandering paths in it anymore, just straight ones to a well-defined
goal." For this tour, which was funded in part by the Daniel Langlois Foundation--a Montreal organization
that provides grants to endeavors that merge technology and art--Blasser has invited some other electronic
musicians to play shinths with him: beat master Fashion Flesh, half of Super Madrigal Brothers, a glitchy
techno duo that shreds up early 90s Nintendo music; Eurotrash psycho-pop artists Los Fancy Free, whose
front man was raised by Mennonite hippies; Skeletons (aka Matt Mehlan), the most composition-minded
of the bunch; and Twig Harper, the madman whose own disemboweled and reconstructed electronics make
up half the arsenal of Baltimore's Nautical Almanac. The tour ends with this show, so expect some
well-worked-out psychic interaction and cosmic arrangements. Sunday, December 14, 9:30 PM, Empty
Bottle, 1035 N. Western; 773-276-3600."
Mental!
"Shinth Tour
Author: Liz Armstrong
Date: December 12, 2003
While fiction writers are busy imagining an apocalyptic showdown between man and machine,
Chicago's own Peter Blasser is demonstrating how the two depend on each other by making music with his
homemade electronic instruments, called shinths. A shinth is an exposed circuit board with no electronic
inputs that produces sound when a human touches it with his fingers and places a conductive spoon that's
hooked to an amplifier in his mouth, sending a small dose of voltage through his body. Literally acting as a
conductor, whoever's digging in becomes part of the instrument. The results tend to be soft and
otherworldly, but the sounds you can make (a finger running along the edge of a crystal glass, the buzz of a
faraway swarm of bees, fluttering wings, a creaky ship rocking from side to side, weeping, groaning, bits of
static) depends entirely on how you caress the circuits. "To make a shinth," says Blasser, "you must
eliminate all intentions or hierarchy or goals. In electronic design this is difficult because practicality has
overwhelmed the field--there are no wandering paths in it anymore, just straight ones to a well-defined
goal." For this tour, which was funded in part by the Daniel Langlois Foundation--a Montreal organization
that provides grants to endeavors that merge technology and art--Blasser has invited some other electronic
musicians to play shinths with him: beat master Fashion Flesh, half of Super Madrigal Brothers, a glitchy
techno duo that shreds up early 90s Nintendo music; Eurotrash psycho-pop artists Los Fancy Free, whose
front man was raised by Mennonite hippies; Skeletons (aka Matt Mehlan), the most composition-minded
of the bunch; and Twig Harper, the madman whose own disemboweled and reconstructed electronics make
up half the arsenal of Baltimore's Nautical Almanac. The tour ends with this show, so expect some
well-worked-out psychic interaction and cosmic arrangements. Sunday, December 14, 9:30 PM, Empty
Bottle, 1035 N. Western; 773-276-3600."
Mental!
-
Guest
I haven't read the whole thread, but there have been some new instruments in my lifetime, even if they are adaptations of existing. Mainly I'm referring to the Chapman stick, but also 6, 7, and 8 string electric basses, the fanned fret system, and wacky one-offs like future mans synthaxe drumitar. I would have to say that in the hands of a master, the turntable is another new "instrument" from the last century. If you look into modern composers like John Cage and the like, we find that as technology became available, composers started using it for their compositions, sometimes using pre-recorded tapes on little hand held tape players that the "orchestra" would "play". Others include 13 pin midified guitars (ztars are particularly wacky), and in my mind, I guess I'd have to include effects pedals and now software in the realm of new "instruments". Granted these often require some sort of sound source that stems from a "real" instrument or voice, but since they can change the sound so much, and the effects themselves (esp. Live's) can be played. It seems like the technology has driven innovation in sound design on the software, hardware, and effects tip, and less on the new instrument from scratch tip, although undoubtedly, advancing technology makes todays traditional instrument better than ever. I look forward to more revolutionary software like Live.
Ryan
Ryan
Well, I knew it wasn't a hoax project 'cause I knew someone on a VJ board who had one , combined with an Analog video synthesizer that he uses for his performances.
But I find it one of the more creative ways of sound creation I've encountered lately, combining the old "materials" with the new technology ... and it looks pretty as well ...
But I find it one of the more creative ways of sound creation I've encountered lately, combining the old "materials" with the new technology ... and it looks pretty as well ...
http://www.mbazzy.tk -
Mbazzy's "The dysfunctional playground, a scrapbook a bout the shape of useless things" now OUT on Retinascan - http://www.retinascan.de
Mbazzy's "The dysfunctional playground, a scrapbook a bout the shape of useless things" now OUT on Retinascan - http://www.retinascan.de
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noisetonepause
- Posts: 4938
- Joined: Sat Dec 28, 2002 3:38 pm
- Location: Sticks and stones
The guitar did not take hundreds of years to evolve.
In Fact !
Simply some guy found an empty wooden fruit box glued a branch of a tree to the top for the neck and then added some bits of thread to pluck so he could create harmonic resonancesor as we commonly know now Sound Waves.
Same with the violin excpet it was with a fig box for its body.
In Fact !
Simply some guy found an empty wooden fruit box glued a branch of a tree to the top for the neck and then added some bits of thread to pluck so he could create harmonic resonancesor as we commonly know now Sound Waves.
Same with the violin excpet it was with a fig box for its body.
the Chapman Stick is an amazing thing capable of such a variety of sounds. in the summer there is a guy at a beach on Long Island who sets up inside a cement tunnel that is used to walk from the highway to the beach. he plays 2 Chapman sticks at once. one strapped on him and the other on a stand in front of him. fuckin' AMAZING, the sounds this guy is making are out of control. and the natural reverb of that tunnel is just insane. i'm gonna go down there this year with the laptop and see if this guy will let me sample him for a few hours.Anonymous wrote:...Mainly I'm referring to the Chapman stick...Others include 13 pin midified guitars (ztars are particularly wacky)...
and the ZTar is nuts too. never heard of it until last year when i saw Lou Reed perform at Town Hall here in NYC and one of the cats in his band was playing the ZTar. wow is all i can say. that whole show was wild actually. there was no drummer. all percussion was done with MIDI foot pedals running to samplers. each member of the band seemed to be in charge of triggering a different drum. pretty wild.
I kind of fancy the audiopad: http://web.media.mit.edu/~jpatten/audiopad/
Some real potential with controlling Live with an audiopad...if they were only available commercially.
-kenan
Some real potential with controlling Live with an audiopad...if they were only available commercially.
-kenan
Last nite at work I remembered that a friend of mine's father once had a little gizmo called a "bioactivity translator" (He's a prominant author on various esoteric subjects) I was only about 12 at the time. Anyway he'd hook this thing up to a pot plant and it would turn any bioelectric currrent into sounds. The alarming thing was that if you shouted at the plant or struck a match near it the thing would go beserk! No kidding, it left a big impression on me.
I was thinking that if you could build one with an output jack you could use a plant as a kind of instrument. I guess they're hard to find these days cos I had no success tracking one down on google earlier. However I did stumble across a band that actually uses one!
http://www.stalk.net/paradigm/morphogenesis.htm
Damn! I thought I was onto a new idea, should of known better I suppose. I was imagining a backline of aspidistras.
I was thinking that if you could build one with an output jack you could use a plant as a kind of instrument. I guess they're hard to find these days cos I had no success tracking one down on google earlier. However I did stumble across a band that actually uses one!
http://www.stalk.net/paradigm/morphogenesis.htm
Damn! I thought I was onto a new idea, should of known better I suppose. I was imagining a backline of aspidistras.
i think that according to the fact that any sound's created from a vibration, and only vibration, we can't really invent a new instrument cause we already know most of the vibrating possibilities. therefore we can only readapt existing instruments.
but i also think that something new's coming : self-instruments. NI licence owners must know 'metaphysical function' which is one of them. futur tracks could be little softwares, creating a new sequence on available sounds each time played. kind of living music...
but i also think that something new's coming : self-instruments. NI licence owners must know 'metaphysical function' which is one of them. futur tracks could be little softwares, creating a new sequence on available sounds each time played. kind of living music...
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Alex Reynolds
- Posts: 989
- Joined: Sat Jul 13, 2002 5:48 am
- Location: Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Contact:
generative music aims at this to varying degree:humeka wrote:futur tracks could be little softwares, creating a new sequence on available sounds each time played. kind of living music...
• http://www.cycling74.com/community/cascone.html
• http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/eno1.html
• http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~reynolda/music_ae_092801.html
• http://www.essl.at/bibliogr/generative-music.html
-a.
speaking of living music, there is an amazing duo called Octant. the band consists of a husband and wife and a handful of home made robots. the robots actually "play" the drums and supposedly the goal is that one day the robots will actually write the songs. he has also designed a number of electronic instruments, one being the "Phototheremin", a light controlled theremin thing. a friend of mine actually purchased one from him and it's quite cool. and they make all sorts of noise making gadgets that are on their tracks. i suggest picking up either of their albums, both are real good. i know they used to live in Seattle when i was there but i think they've moved to Chicago. here's a link. good stuff.humeka wrote:...futur tracks could be little softwares, creating a new sequence on available sounds each time played. kind of living music...
http://www.uprecords.com/artists/octant/