Robot band stars Wiimote-wielding frontman. In what may be a precursor to the hippie/robot showdown we've always hoped for, musician Patrick Flanagan has founded Jazari, a three-piece robotic drum circle with some impressive grooves.
If that's not fun enough, it's all controlled by two Wiimotes. Last week we looked at Marv, a robotic vibraphone that banged out an impressive rendition of "Flight of the Bumblebee. " This week's robotunes come courtesy of an ensemble. Flanagan wields two Wiimotes to control the rhythm, volume, and pitch of the three different drums. The D-pad determines which part of the drum is struck (and thus the sound it makes), while turning the Wiimote side to side controls the tempo of the notes and pointing it up and down controls their volume. Flanagan's software even allows the other drums to analyze the grooves he's creating and improvise their own patterns, though he doesn't spend too much time talking about this capability.
This story originally appeared on Gizmodo. Mechanical Music Instruments. Hello Friends, how are you now ? Not much people will know what kind of wondrous world we experienced but you can have some idea through the following links and sparse information. One of the most impressive sites about mechanical music instruments and a very good start is Some Museums : (with original soundclips from authomatic instruments) A cd to order Mechanische Musikinstrumente (so not for a longer period ; possibly with the tracks from the museum above) : -I added this link because you can listen to another sample there (I didn't check it if it were different)- : The museum I worked for in Germany : Siegfried's Mechanisches Musikkabinett : They have also an atelier where they restore mechanical musicinstruments, as well as reprint old piano roles, but I don't know the right address Information : "die Gebrüder Bruder" who were from the Black Forest, museum has published with some kind of guide in Siegfried's Mechanisches (I found another one best) Musikkabinett in Rüdesheim, Germany.
PS. Mechanical Music Digest - Home. Robot Band Backs Pat Metheny on Orchestrion Tour. BROOKLYN, New York — Dozens of robotic band members will join jazz guitarist Pat Metheny on his next international tour.
It’s the same backup band that accompanied him on his latest album, Orchestrion, producing sounds both familiar and alien. The four-month tour runs February to May, giving people all over the world a chance to see and hear Metheny play his original compositions for acoustic guitar and robot orchestra in a live setting.
LISTEN: Orchestrion sample Orchestrion sounds really interesting on CD, sort of like a jazz gamelan with an extraterrestrial twist. Robotic musicians can handle tasks that humans cannot, opening new compositional possibilities. “It’s not samples, it’s not looping — it’s something else. Metheny composed the parts for each instrument by using his specialty — the guitar — as a MIDI instrument, taking control of various robots with the guitar and having them play certain rhythms or melodies. “People will say, ‘Well, why not just use samples?’
See Also: Conlon Nancarrow Study for Player Piano no. 5. Mechanical piano pieces on TENORI-ON(s) [Rehearsals] by Smith. Hydraulic Guitar. Fast Blue Air nr 1.