Reading Response # 5
! Principle 5.4 has me thinking about the ways in which we could extend the five senses.
What might it be like to open up a sixth channel of sensory input, like how birds have electro-
magnetic field sensing? How would this feel? What art forms could be developed around
celebrating the compositions made of nuances in a magnetic field? "
! This whole chapter has me thinking back on the many instruments I have designed like
the harmonic tangler, The Triangle, and Drone controller . When I first started making these
wacky creations, I was in my undergrad and had just seen this wild Imogen Heap video . As a
composer who uses acoustic and electronic textures, I was always very unsatisfied with the
“hit button => play tracks” version of performance. It felt so lame and unexpressive! So, when I
saw the Imogen Heap MiMU Gloves I thought, “finally, the future is upon us!” And then–
nothing. Their 2012 kickstarter failed, and the website currently claims a new design will drop in
2024. However, we are several months from 2025 and this is over a decade after that original
video. Similarly, I knew someone involved in this Mogees project that looked great and never
seemed to be successful at market. (There appears to be one disgruntled Walmart reviewer
that says their app is discontinued!) All to say– why are music making consumers not adopting
the tech? "
! This is a question to myself included because even as the designer of many wild
personalized instruments, I have played over 600 shows throughout the last decade and never
used one of my DIY Arduino controllers. My band uses the MPC for live triggering, which is a
very expressive midi controller (designed by the fantastic Roger Linn), but uses an interface of
just buttons, knobs, and a screen. Why don’t these new technologies of gestural actions other
than “press/twist” catch on? When the DX7 became a consumer product, it was widely
adopted, so why are these interesting new interfaces for musical expression less commercially
viable? Where has the crossover between cool experimental ideas and public interest gone!?!
Do people not know the difference between watching a complex digital controller and a DJ
updating their LinkedIn page? I wonder about how we can change that? I care a lot about
putting on a good show, but all of my uses of homemade controllers have been in an academic
or museum installation setting. Reflecting on reasons why, I think that the ratio of amount of
work (for interactions to be exact/reliable/repeatable as talked about with the piano in Principle
5.2) to amount of audience comprehension has made it disincentivized. To end on a positive
note, here is one of my favorite Detroit local weird music makers who designs some of the
most (sublimely) crazy electronic instruments I’ve ever seen. https://www.instagram.com/p/
DBWC2o4RqiA/
