Expression Musical Instruments

Expression Group, Interval Research 1995

Project Description: I headed a project team looking at building musical instruments within the constraints of desktop PCs.� The team developed numerous iterations of many instruments.

I used a kaleidoscope application written by Kate Swann, which took input from the computer�s microphone and gave the desktop different abstract patterns depending on the type of noise in the environment.� I then wrote software for a 3-D dancing fork which generated it�s own appropriate accompaniment.� The most successful piece was called the Web (this was before the WWW was very popular).� A beam traced radially around the web like an air traffic controller's screen.� Users could add eggs into the web, which would create a sound as the beam ran across them.� Users had controls for changing all aspects of the music including pitch, volume, duration, tempo and instrument.� Users could also save out compositions.� There was also a special interface for more accomplished musicians to create sound palettes for the web.

I collaborated with Joy Mountford and Geoff Smith, Andrew Hirniak, James Tobias, Amee Evans and Tom Bellman at Interval Research.

Technical Notes:� Most of these instruments were created using Macromedia Director/Lingo and Hypermidi.