The 2009 [13th] Japan Media Arts Festival is now over, but its Art Division has recommended a number of works that are well worth looking at.

Among them, is Fredo Viola’s The Turn, an interactive, toy-like site that showcases Fredo Viola’s music and unique video work. Traditional rectangular videos are joined by circular and hexagonal works, which can be turned. When shapes collide they generate sounds that create a musical instrument in conjunction with the interactive background music and adjustable physics parameters.

Viola collaborated with artist Guille Lopez in creating The Turn.

tapTap is a construction toy capturing a fascination with rhythm and fidgeting. The system is built up of individual knock boxes. Each box has its own memory and is completely self-contained. As you tap on the top of a box, the box waits for a few seconds and then taps back what it has heard. If you want more you add another box, and another, and another, tap, tap, tap.

Stacking the boxes creates longer and more complex rhythm lines as the patterns tumble down the resulting pyramids. By tapping for longer than the delay period you play a duet with the box as it repeats your earlier rhythms. Audio delays are often only that, audible, tapTap renders them physical. The boxes themselves do not learn or loop, they only repeat. This keeps the system as simple as possible. Continue reading

3rd Ward, Etsy.com, Make Magazine, and createdigitalmusic.com present Handmade Music Night :: with the good folks of Etsy.com, Make Magazine, and XLR8R :: January 15, 2009; 7:30-10:30 pm :: 3rd Ward, Stagg Street (corner of Morgan Ave.), Brooklyn [see directions below].

Part party, part mixer, part Science Fair, and part performance, this is an informal chance for geeksters and the geek-curious to come together, relax, and discover new sounds. * Bizarre sonic objects made from dismembered mannequin torsos and legs, transformed into a Theremin and maracas * Gestural controllers, made with wood and 3D printers, shaping sound with movement * Over-the-shoulder musical fashion with snakeskin and leather * Continue reading

Wall•E Loves Noise Toys (part 1) from Gian Pablo Villamil on Vimeo. More on Gian Pablo Villamil. Check out weather box and probe swarm.

From: artificial.dk

In Proto_gabber 3.11 by Dutch artist Peter Luining you can move the five squares. The motions are recorded and each square continues repeating it, generating patterns of motion as well as sound. Neat in all its simplicity. And fun.

Peter Luining is an Amsterdam based artist, curator and theorist. He studied contemporary philosophy in the mid 80’s. After his study he became active in the Amsterdam vj-scene. He started fiddling with computers, and made 3D animations in commercial jobs. Continue reading

Exploring Sonic Interaction with Artefacts in Everyday Contexts — a hands-on workshop on June 23, 2008 at IRCAM (Paris, France):: Part of the 14th International Conference on Auditory Display :: June 24-27, 2008 :: Organizers: Karmen Franinovic, Lalya Gaye, Frauke Behrendt :: Workshop : website :: Deadline: June 6, 2008.

This workshop introduces participants to the use of creative interaction design methods when exploring the design of sonic interactions with computational artefacts. Specifically, focus will be on physical interactions that rely on continuous sonic feedback. Participants will generate future scenarios and concepts for such interactions, and everyday sounding objects in context will be taken as a starting point. By taking part in the workshop activities, participants will get an embodied understanding of the challenges of designing for meaningful and engaging physical interaction with computational sonic artefacts. Methods employed in the workshop will thus be good complements to the cognition or technology-based approaches to designing sounding objects that are mainstream within the ICAD community. Continue reading

The Pâte à Son by LeCielEstBleu is a sound toy and compositional tool conceived to encourage musical experimentation.

Go to the site. Drag instruments, switches, and transporter pipes from the conveyor belt to the checkerboard to make music. Rotate the pieces. Choose a melody. Change pitch, tempo and volume to fine-tune the composition.

Original concept and production by LeCielEstBleu on an initiative of the Cité de la Musique. FluxTunes, the new version of Pâte à Son, all grown-up, will be available soon. Continue reading

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Leonardo Music Journal, Vol. 17 (2007) - With an introduction by Nic Collins: My Favorite Things: The Joy of the Gizmo — is now available. With contributions by Bert Bongers, Eric Leonardson, David Toop, Peter Blasser, Phil Archer, Andy Keep, John Wynne, Richard Garrett, James Saunders, Richard Lerman, Brett Ian Balogh, César Dávila-Irizarry, Vic Rawlings, James Fei, John Bowers and Vanessa Yaremchuk, Guillermo Galindo, Jane Henry, Neil Feather, Robert Poss, Jeremy Hight, Kyle Lapidus and Tali Hinkis, hans w. koch, Kazuhiro Jo, Laura Emelianoff, Marc Berghaus, Bruce Cana Fox, Michael Duffey, Charles Stankievech, Juraj Kojs, Stefania Serafin and Chris Chafe. Plus new reviews from the Leonardo Reviews panel. Continue reading

The Future of Sound :: November 9, 2007; 8 – 10.30 pm :: Entrance Hall, The British Library, 96 Euston Road, London :: Price: £5.

The Future Of Sound is a sonic spectacular that showcases cutting edge artists in music and audio design, performing their innovations and discoveries in surround-sound in the Entrance Hall of the Library, and against a sumptuous projected backdrop. Inspired by the experiments of the 20th Century Avant Garde, the event will present contributions by the infamous Scanner (aka Robin Rimbaud), who recently composed a new national anthem for Europe, Continue reading