Bikini Models + Conductive Paint + Ableton Live = The Humanthesizer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IObPkUFq0hg

This is a must see – Calvin Harris may have created the ultimate electronic music controller – bikini clad models painted with conductive ink.

Harris performs a version of his new single Ready For The Weekend on a unique human synthesiser- the Humanthesizer.

The instrument employs 15 bikini clad models painted with Bare Conductive, a new skin safe ink which conducts electricity. When the performers touch, the connection completes a circuit, triggering a sound.

Think it’s all fake, and just a cheap excuse to get 15 bikini clad babes into a music video?

Then check out the behind the scenes video below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up1wraRnriI

The instrument consists of 34 pads on the floor which have been painted with the conductive ink and connected to a computer via some clever custom electronics. The performers stand on the pads, and touch hands to complete a circuit and trigger a sound. Different combinations of pads trigger the different sounds needed to play the track.

The project is the result of a collaboration between Calvin Harris and masters students from the Royal College of Art’s Industrial Design Engineering programme.

Bare Conductive was developed by RCA students Bibi Nelson, Becky Pilditch, Isabel Lizardi and Matt Johnson. The custom electronics and software for the project were created by Matt Johnson, employing two Arduinos and the graphical audio programming tool Max MSP. The performers, floor pads, Arduinos and Max MSP combine to create a giant MIDI controller which is used to create music which is sequenced and quantized with Ableton Live.

Do you think you could get creative, if you had 15 bikini clad models and a gallon of conductive ink at your disposal?

Leave a comment with your thoughts!

via icreateddisco

3 thoughts on “Bikini Models + Conductive Paint + Ableton Live = The Humanthesizer

  1. Good marketing, those students are brilliant. I don't think it's sexist at all, just good ideas and good technology.
    What I want to see is an unbroken shot with the whole performance. That's abit ambitious because it's a huge deal to coreograph that many people even if they are professional dancers. Folks in the Ballet practice 6+ hours a day for weeks before a performance. So, I bet it was a matter of necessity that the video is cut up. However I can hear a little bit of the ambient reverb in the track. I bet the song part was all done in one day, just not in one take.

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