Improvisations on 5 environments of the Silent Drum Controller.

This controller began to be developed in 2006 by Jaime Oliver in collaboration with percussionist Matthew Jenkins as a percussion controller, thought to be hit by mallets within a percussion setup; hence the look of a drum and the name Silent Drum. However, through further experimentation and development, a hand technique was revealed possible.

The Silent Drum Controller is a transparent drum shell with an elastic head. As one presses it, the head deforms and a variety of shapes with peaks are created reflecting the shape of the mallet or hand. These shapes are captured by a video camera that sends these images to the computer, which analyzes them and outputs the tracked parameters.

On Feb-28 2009, it received the 1st prize in the Guthman Musical Instrument Competition at the Georgia Tech Center for Music Technology (GTCMT).

via jaiolix