Roger Linn Design

Description

Originally posted Friday night, May 14, 2010 (See bottom of page for update ) If you've read my (Roger's) New Musical Instruments page , you know that I'm interested in the idea of new musical instruments that overcome the limitations of traditional mechanical instruments. My particular interest is in a new instrument that while capable of entirely new sounds and playing techniques, is also able to reproduce the sounds, virtuosic performance capabilities and subtleties that we've come to know and love from traditional musical instruments, but without all their problems and limitations . I've come up with a prototype of an instrument design that I like. Here's a brief video demonstration of it, which has received 175,000 views on YouTube since it was posted on May 15: The prototype consists of a multi-touch, pressure-sensitive, high-resolution USB touch surface from a company called TouchCo (details below). A printed transparency containing the note names is attached to the top, and another clear sheet with each square cut out is attached above it in order to provide tactile feedback of the borders between notes. An program written by a friend and fellow music/art/technology enthusiast named Tim Thompson translates the TouchCo's proprietary USB messages into TUIO messages sent over OSC . A Max/MSP patch written by me and my wife Ingrid receives the TUIO/OSC messages, converts the x/y/z data into note locations, pitch, timbre and pressure data and synthesizes the sounds. Here are photos of the prototype and close-up of the touch surface, which you can click for high-resolution versions: Here's a rendering I made of what it might look like as a finished product (click it to see a high-resolution picture): This design uses a fingerboard grid consisting of 6 rows of 24 semitones each, similar to a guitar. In acknowledgement of my wife Ingrid's contribution to the engineering, we like to refer to this note grid as the "InGRID". :) It also has two thumb control strips, one on each side of the fingerboard, to be used for sustaining fingered notes after release, strumming, bowing, blowing or restriking, and also has a wind sensor for added expression. (Ignore the 4 long, thin bars on each side; they were to be used as separate palm-actuated sustain bars, but I've decided that the two thumb strips work better for this.) This design is intended to be played from either of two positions: 1) On a table, with both hands playing from one side and using only one thumb control strip for both thumbs. Because note expression is controlled by subtle changes in finger pressure, the table provides the necessary resistance to that pressure. 2) On your chest vertically, with one hand playing from each side of the instrument. In this case, the left thumb control strip is used by the left thumb and the right thumb control strip is used by the right thumb. Because note expression is controlled by subtle changes in finger pressure, your body provides the necessary resistance to that pressure. This position conveniently places the wind sensor close to the mouth.

Products & services

Similar companies nearby