The Sound Machines

I stumbled across this on the Make Blog.

These machines - created by Festo - look and sound absolutely incredible. It is very fitting after just having been through a lecture by Ken Gregory; a sound / acoustic / noise / video / kinetic artist. These machines, however, represent something completely opposite from the sort of work that Ken creates (which is much looser and maybe more "natural" - which is a very silly way of describing it - and is most often created with found objects and "junk"). These are very carefully crafted and machined instruments that exploit the precision which is achievable through the use of computing processes, and make it blatantly obvious to the audience. They also make some other radical machines, so be sure to check out their website - especially under the Bionic Learning Network area.

From Festo's website:

A pneumatic quintet will be playing at the Hanover Fair

Five automatic sound machines will provide musical accompaniment for the opening celebrations at the Hanover Fair – thanks to technology from Festo. Pneumatic components and a PLC control system will be applied very differently from the way they are used in industrial automation: They will create a bridge between technology and art.

Scene designer and robot artist Roland Olbeter developed and crafted the unique ensemble "The Sound Machines," an automated, electrical string quartet with a drum. The four string instruments sound and function like electric guitars, the difference being that each sound machine only has one string.

21 micro-cylinders from Festo are used in each sound machine. The micro-cylinders imitate the mechanical movements of a musician's left hand on the string instruments, determining the pitch of the tone by changing the length of the strings. Various drumsticks and a jazz brush are moved on the drum by micro-cylinders.

"Fast Blue Air," the music composed especially for the Hanover Fair by Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin, explores the range of sounds generated by the sound machines including the noises produced by the pneumatics. On stage at the opening ceremony, "The Sound Machines" will also accompany a pop music and an aria from the concert for string quartet, drum and soprano "Orlando Furioso!" sung by mezzo soprano Claudia Schneider from Barcelona.

The music program played by "The Sound Machines" is saved in midi files, and the sound is generated in three steps. For the first “digital” step, the sound machines are controlled by a PLC (programmable logic controller). In the second step, pneumatic components cause the strings to vibrate by either plucking them like a guitarist or stroking them like a string musician. In the third step, the sound is received and amplified by electronic pick-ups, similarly to an electric guitar. The sound machines offer a variety of options for generating very different musical effects.

Watch the video here.
(I am especially interested in the very short clip of the drum machine. I wish that portion was longer.)

Click here to download a detailed informational PDF.