Variability to Randomness

John Morley via Twitter: Comment from someone about DIY electronic instrument: "You never know what it is going to do"

I thought it was an interesting quote. I strongly believe in some degree of purpose in the instruments I use. I like to know what I am doing

Many traditional instruments have a degree of unavoidable variability in being played. Great players manage and even use this but it never disappears. Consider, for example, reed instruments, fretless string instruments and so forth. But it is not that the instrument is variable, it is that the interaction, the playing, is variable

In contrast, many electronic instruments are highly predictable and precise. Consider how round-robin application of multiple samples is often used to simulate the variability of the traditional instrument on a device that can be played in a completely repeatable way (many can *only* be repeatable)

There is one (well, probably more) key difference however. The player is part of the variability on the traditional instrument - the variability is nuance not randomness.

I believe that this leads to a profound tactile involvement between the player and the instrument that leads to expressiveness that is otherwise unattainable.

This point emerges from the discussion in the video to the right as well.

Touch as Part of Expressiveness

John Morley just posted an interesting thought about the WaveDrum as an example where technology did not serve to dehumanize music in the way that many use quantization and pitch correction.

I agree whole heartedly.

What struck me as quite important was the mention of the connectedness of instrument and player as an important factor. For me the fact that the wavedrum is not a pad but a real drum and highly tactile is quite critical. It also makes for quite a contrast with button or pad based 'drums'.

This is one aspect of the Eigenharp that fails to get a lot of notice; it is a very tactile device.

Say Eigenharp, and you are sure to hear expressiveness in the resulting conversation.

Now it is surely true that the time granularity (2000 samples/sec) and the resolution (1024 levels) is an important and differentiating enabler of expressiveness. However, it is just as important to note that the keys are extremely tactile. The force required and the physical feedback from the keys results in a connection for the player that is, well, sensual. Further, while one can play a run of individual notes, the system as a whole is tweaked so well that running your finger down a course of keys can also sound and feel much like running your finger down a continuous string (it does not matter that, technically that isn't what is happening)

Surely one could build (for example) a pad with that sample rate and bit depth. They probably exist. But this tactile aspect and the instrument/player connection that results is a critical component of enabling expressiveness.