strange instruments
Articles about strange instruments:
Sea Organs Played By Waves
OT: Architect Nikola Basic has recently received the European Prize for Urban Public Space for the very cool Sea Organ project, an architectural and experimental musical object located in Zadar, Croatia.
“The Sea Organ is a pipe organ that has a set of 35 musically tuned tubes located underneath a set of large marble steps played by the sea waves. The movement of the sea pushes air through, and depending on the size and force of the wave, it produces a somewhat random but harmonic sound.”
via The Pomponist
The guys at Haken Audio, the creators of the Continuum Keyboard, have published a video that showcases the awesome power of MIDI-controlled Tesla coils.
Here’s the story behind it:
Mark Smart performs live in Urbana, Illinois on March 7, 2008.
This outdoor concert was part of a student-run open house for the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois. Tesla coils were used to create musical pitches via a control system designed by university student Steve Ward. Two coils were used. The right coil is playing a prerecorded Midi track, acting as the bass, and the left one is performed live as a lead sound via the Continuum fingerboard. The Midi track as well as additional audio backing tracks were played via Cubase running on a Open Labs Neko workstation.
In spite of the frigid temperatures (4 degrees Fahrenheit, 26 mph winds), the concert was well attended and was voted the most popular event of the open house.
Based on the video, it’s clear that this would have been a tough act to compete with.
Mark Smart is an very talented multi-instrumentalist and a geek in the best sense. I always try to stop by and see him and Dr. Lippold Haken at the annual Winter NAMM Show, because they’re both really nice guys, and it’s amazing to see Mark play walking bass with one hand he solos on Continuum with the other.
More about Mark at his site.
via Livepa
OT: Terje Isungset makes instruments out of ice and performs at nordic ice festivals.
Most of the information on him and his music seems to be in Norwegian, but here’s the official blurb on it from his label:
The instruments are made from top quality ice. It must be free of any air bubbles. The instruments are carved using saws and knives. So far these instruments have been created and recorded: Iceofon, Ice Harp, Ice Horn, Ice trumpet, Ice percussion, Ice bass drum carved from one block of ice. In addition, all stands, supports and tables are also made from ice. Only the bass drum pedal, fish line for suspension, and the strings on the Ice Harp are made from materials other than pure frozen water.
Here’s a video, Ice Fuzion, that is a collaboration between ice artist Peter Wasilewski & Isungset:
via MOS
