Called a computer instrument, it is a tool for both improvisation and variation.
The computer instrument - which is a particle synthesiser - functions differently to other digital instruments. It captures a stanza, a guitar riff, a verse line, a drum solo, or any recorded snippet of music, and splits the sound into a number of very short sound particles between one and 10 milliseconds long.
The fragments can then be infinitely reshuffled, making it possible to vary the music with no change to the basic theme.
“It’s easy to change a bit of music into something that can’t be recognised. It’s the opposite that is the challenge: to create variations in which the musical theme remains clear,” said the inventor Øyvind Brandtsegg.
“This instrument allows me to expand the musical palette with new tonal variations and timbres. It is also the first time that the actual composition process can be controlled in real time”, he added.
Computing music
Meet a musical computer science student at Cambridge University.
You’ve read it. Now review it.
Date Published: December 02, 2008
More by this source
|
Print
|
Send to a friend
|
Rate & Comment
|
Keep up to date
If you found this item fun or informative, please let others know. Simply send to a friend or recommend it to even more people - on any of the following sites:
Latest Science News | reddit | digg.com | del.icio.us | rollyo | stumbleupon
More on synthesisers...
K is for Keyboards
We go under the keyboard keys to see how analogue and digital synthesisers work.
O is for oscillator
Wired for sound? Have a look at the original source of sound synthesis.
Fripp & Eno, Beyond Even (1992-2006)
There's something heartwarming about the occasional duo productions of Robert Fripp and Brian Eno. Their meldings of guitars and synthesisers aren't particularly polished or structured, so the impression is more that of two old friends messing around an electronic potting shed. Not that there isn't room for individual craft: Fripp's guitar figures, crystalline and clothed in an electronic shimmer, make up Timean Sparkles. His razor-sharp lead lines dominate Sneering Loop and The Idea of Decline.
