by mark wessels
YouTube Clip: World (Wii) Percussion
February 23, 2010 4:12 pm in World by mark wessels
It’s pretty fascinating how far computer-aided performance can go. Here’s a Wiimote-controlled robot that (at least according to Popular Science) will make “Human Hippies obsolete.”
Not sure I’d go that far -- but still very cool!
A word of thanks to the Zildjian tweet for this one. Let us know what you think!
The man behind the machine, Patrick Flanagan, is a composer who cites music theory, music cognition, and machine learning as the three “chin-stroking disciplines” that influence his work. He created Jazari with a nod to Al-Jazari, a polymath of the Arab world in the 13th century who supposedly created the world’s first robot band.
Whoa!!!! I think we finally found the next “Rock Band”! Very cool.
Pat Metheny’s latest album, Orchestrion, also employs the one-man-robotic-concept.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsYEOUKS4Yk&feature=related
In this clip, check out all the drums, cymbals, bottles and keyboard percussion instruments that Pat uses. However, unlike Fanagan, Pat uses his guitar to trigger all of the instruments.
(Must be quite an ordeal to keep all these instruments tunes and the machines up and running properly!)
Mike Myers
mikemyersmusic.com
Wow. That is pretty amazing! Thanks Mark, and Zildjian for bringing this to the forefront!