Switched On Handel, On The Haken Continuum Fingerboard

Mark Smart performs a very nice “switched on” version of Alla Hornpipe from Handel’s Water Music, Suite #2 in D major, on the Haken Continuum Fingerboard. .

via marksmartus2:

In this multitrack recording, I’m using the Haken Continuum Fingerboard
(http://www.hakenaudio.com) to control a custom synthesizer built with
Native Instruments’ Reaktor software (running on a Muse Receptor 2
for fast response). I used Cubase for the multitrack recording.

The left channel of the audio is the same take I’m playing in the video
(with some corrections). The Continuum surface is split in the Y
(front-to-back) direction so playing above the halfway point produces
a string sound and playing below it produces a brass sound. The
“Mono Interval” on the Continuum is set to 2, which means that when
you play notes more than 2 half-steps apart, you get two separate
notes, allowing you to play dual melody lines in thirds. But if you
play notes 1-2 half steps apart, you only hear whichever note you
are pressing the hardest, allowing half-step and whole-step trills.
So in the same take I can do the 2 Violins, 2 Trumpets, or 2 French
Horns by playing at different locations.

The right channel contains 9 additional tracks, also performed on
the Continuum driving Reaktor:

1. Violin 2 (when it’s not playing along with 1)
2. Violin 3
3. Viola
4. Cello and bass (this is panned a little to center)
5. Oboe 1&2
6. Additional trumpet 1
6. Additional trumpet 2
7. Additional horn 1
7. Additional horns 2

In case you’re wondering, my finger is injured and I wear a splint
on it to keep it straight. I think it’s a repetitive stress injury
from making too many rude gestures. 🙂

My web site: http://www.marksmart.net

3 thoughts on “Switched On Handel, On The Haken Continuum Fingerboard

  1. Yep, great. I often wish that folks like Handel and Bach could be whisked into the present day to see this kind of technology. I can imagine they’d get pretty excited – especially ol’ Johann Sebastian. I think he’d have loved ‘Switched-on Bach’, and, being an organist, would ‘get’ synthesizers straight away.

  2. This is really impressive! I’ve seen a couple of other videos of Smart playing, usually with some Tesla coils, and he really uses the technology in a musical way.

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