Beam Beats is an interactive and tangible rhythm sequencer that translates the geometry of beacons on the ground into rhythms and polyrhythms thanks to a rotating laser beam. This experimental MIDI instrument is about investigating self-similarities in polyrhythms, as described in this post. Before I report more on this project with demos and videos, here [...]
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Tags: arduino, beam beats, clock, controllerism, experimental, geometric, hardware, interactive, laser, midi, midi controller, musical instrument, Physical Computing, rhythm, self-similarity, sequencer, tangible
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On a Sunday afternoon, fifteen friends, all non musicians but two amateur musicians, joined the machines set in turn, around 8 at a time, to improvise electro or hip-hop rhythmic grooves. Of course there were food and drinks as well. The goal was to introduce music making in an attractive way: no pressure, no constraint, [...]
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Tags: accessibility, drum machine, interactive, midi, Music, musical instrument
Posted in Music • 1 Comment »
Last week-end I have bought five noise-making plastic toys at a yard sale in Paris; I then ordered knobs and switches from ebay and from a local electronic store. What for? For the purpose of circuit bending of course! First failure Out of the four toys, one was already non working when trying with new [...]
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Tags: circuit, circuitbending, electronic, glitch, hacking, musical instrument, noise
Posted in Music, Physical Computing • 2 Comments »
In the post “Playing with laser beams to create very simple rhythms” I explained a theoretical approach that I want to materialize into an instrument. The idea is to create complex rhythms by combining several times the same rhythmic patterns, but each time with some variation compared to the original pattern. Several possible variations (or [...]
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Tags: arduino, beam beats, beat, drum machine, electronic, experience, instrument, interactive, interface, Music, musical instrument, Physical Computing, research, rhythm, tangible
Posted in Beam Beats, Music, Physical Computing • 2 Comments »
Here are two videos, pictures and explanations about my experiments to generate rhythmic music using laser beams in a clock fashion.
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Tags: beam beats, beat, drum machine, electronic, hacking, Music, musical instrument, rhythm
Posted in Beam Beats, Music, Physical Computing • 2 Comments »
Just like many arts, music arousal is considered to follow the well-known Wundt curve that defines the balance between attractiveness and boredom. Too much repetition is boring, not enough repetition is confusing and considered just noise. What for? Let us assert that idea to music, to generate rhythms. A very simple application of the Wundt [...]
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Tags: beam beats, beat, drum machine, electronic, hacking, Music, musical instrument, rhythm
Posted in Beam Beats, Music, Physical Computing • 1 Comment »