Dimi-H - Making music out of thin air
(As seen and heard LIVE at NoiseCity on 15-Jan-2005)
(New: A full-scale version is currently exhibited at Institut Finlandais in Paris, France. Go and play it yourself!)
Mr Erkki Kurenniemi is a researcher perhaps best known for his pioneering synthesizer work 40 years ago. Erkki has recently been developing a new tonal space theory which is tightly connected to computer generated soundscapes.
As I took a slightly longer vacation around the new year 2005, and as Erkki was invited to perform with some of his older instruments at NoiseCity Helsinki, participation with a prototype instrument which incorporated the new theory of tonal harmony seemed worth a shot. After sourcing some temporary camera hardware, and combining a sound pipeline with 3D tracking algorithms, the new instrument was ready for the concert with a good 7 hours to spare.
Apart from the new instrument's sound channel having been switched off by one of the preceding live acts, once we had the sound switched back on it worked beautifully! (Expect to see a link here with footage from the concert eventually)
Dimi-H Prototype v2 Introduction
Since the concert a more robust version of the instrument has been put together, featuring a few playability adjustments and improved hardware.
So, how does it work? 2 or more standard analog cameras are calibrated around an area which will form the three dimensional tonal space. Every location in the three dimensional tonal space corresponds with a given note/frequency (see Erkki's pdf for more details on the mathematics of the spatial location-to-frequency conversion).
The operator can then enter the tonal space and pick one or more notes literally out of thin air by using a predefined marker (not unlike a conductor's baton) to activate the trigger points. The system uses triangulation between the different cameras to determine where the marker is at any given time. The instrument then updates an interactive video display to highlight triggered locations and their corresponding frequencies.
 The interactive display shows the virtual note locations in 3D space. |
 As the operator moves a marker through 3D space, corresponding notes flare up and play. |
Dimi-H Prototype v2 Specifications
- 1 Central Processing Unit (2.0 Ghz PC)
- 2-3 Analog Cameras (plus attachments).
- 1 Video Projector for interactive 3D display (optional)
- 1 Stereo Audio Connector.