Move beyond the factory
Ableton Move can become the body of a different instrument. RNBO Takeover and Schwung, formerly Move Everything, offer distinct routes; choose around the performance you want.
Read the study ↗Issue 01 / Instruments with other ideasMake a
Make a
stranger noise.
Leftfield sounds, expressive instruments and useful ways to make machines misbehave.
Open devices. Playable hacks. MPE, small computers and pictures that listen. A journal and a working studio, with room to find your own sound.
FIELD STUDY / 001SIGNAL → GESTURE → SOUND
A DIFFERENT WAY THROUGH THE CIRCUIT23.10.26
On the workbench.
Build & hack →FM-1: a small box with an open door
The M-VAVE FM-1 is a useful case study in extending affordable hardware: investigate the firmware, audition the idea, and make one musical change worth keeping.
Read the study ↗The other half of the magazineLess browsing.
Less browsing.
More playing.
Three original instruments. Open a patch, find a gesture, record what happens. Web Audio and MIDI, directly in your browser.
Enter the studio ↗Sound, touch, possibility.
The whole journal →DIY / Standalone instruments
A Raspberry Pi with one job
A convincing standalone instrument begins with a clear role. Choose the audio path and physical controls before turning a small computer into a large unfinished project.
5 MIN READ / PRACTICAL STUDY
Web Audio / Web MIDI
The browser is an instrument
A web instrument earns trust through a clear signal path, honest connection states and a recording you can take away. The browser is a host; the performance still needs designing.
5 MIN READ / PRACTICAL STUDY
Audiovisual / Magic
Make the image play
Use Magic Music Visuals to compose relationships between sound, gesture and image. A clear mapping can say more than a screen in constant motion.
5 MIN READ / PRACTICAL STUDY
Tools / Buying & building
Buy the interface you will play
Choose a hackable instrument by the work you want your hands to do. A board, an integrated kit and a modified finished device buy you different kinds of freedom.
5 MIN READ / PRACTICAL STUDY
MPE / Expressive playing
A note is a place to move
MPE becomes musical when each gesture has a clear purpose. Start with one note, a small range and enough time to hear your hand.
5 MIN READ / PRACTICAL STUDY
Synthesis & gesture
At the edge of a tone
Chaotic synthesis is most revealing in the territory between a stable note and noise. Give that territory a musical purpose before adding more motion.
5 MIN READ / PRACTICAL STUDY
Sound in another form
Let the picture listen.
Build a visual performance that follows phrasing, pressure and silence. Explore Magic, browser graphics and the space between a musical gesture and its image.
Audiovisual studies ↗