{"64775":{"#nid":"64775","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Competition is a Breeding Ground for Genuinely New Musical Instruments","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe third annual Margaret Guthman Musical Instrument Competition at Georgia Tech\u2019s Center for Music Technology awarded first prize to \u201cMO,\u201d a system by French group Interlude Consortium that enables sophisticated music-making with everyday objects such as kitchen utensils and soccer balls. MO was one of 20 inventions evaluated for musicality, design and engineering by an expert panel including Tom Oberheim, inventor of the first polyphonic music synthesizer; Sergi Jorda, inventor of the reacTable tabletop musical instrument; and Georgia Tech Professor Jason Freeman.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EInventor-composers from six countries came to discuss their ideas and perform on their instruments. This year\u2019s top picks included:\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFirst Prize:\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=v7_cHlsQaGw\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EMO, by Interlude Consortium\u003C\/a\u003E, the software that explores novel gestural interfaces for musical expression with everyday objects;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESecond Prize\u003C\/strong\u003E: \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.vimeo.com\/15879203\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EMindBox Media Slot Machine, by German group Humatic Berlin\u003C\/a\u003E, a vintage slot machine with an unexpected modern twist on the age-old tradition of canon composition;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThird Prize\u003C\/strong\u003E: \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lAAhQMU2918\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESamchillian Tip Tip Tip Cheeepeeeee, by New York City musician Leon Gruenbaum\u003C\/a\u003E,an adapted computer keyboard that generates individual notes based on relative pitch; and\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHonorable Mention\u003C\/strong\u003E: \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/vimeo.com\/15375922\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EHexenkessel, by German musician Jacob Sello\u003C\/a\u003E, a timpani drum that uses advanced projection and multi-touch technology;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe quality of the entries this year was extremely high and very diverse,\u201d said Freeman. \u201cSome entries were acoustic or mechanical extensions to instruments, and others were primarily software-based or hardware-based.\u201d \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EEntrants ranged from hobbyists\u2014a security guard and a first year medical student\u2014to academics who develop new musical instruments as a profession.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We want the Guthman Competition to continue expanding its reach, around the globe and across disciplines,\u201d said Gil Weinberg, director of the Georgia Tech Center for Music Technology. \u0022It seems that every year our entries push the envelope further, exploring new ways in which new instruments can lead to novel forms of music expression.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EMO was awarded a grand prize of $5,000 by Tech alumnus Richard Guthman in honor of his musician wife, Margaret. In total, $10,000 in cash was awarded to the best novel musical instruments.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201c[The judges] were inspired by the sort of wonder of MO\u2014that anything can become a musical instrument\u2014along with the hard work and engineering that went into creating a form factor that is really robust, compact and extensible, and the software that makes it so easy to use,\u201d Freeman explained. \u201cIt\u2019s a platform for making new instruments as much as it is an instrument.\u201d \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMO was designed with a large scope of applications in music and performing arts,\u201d said Frederic Bevilacqua, a researcher at IRCAM in France, and MO\u2019s presenter at the competition (along with Julien Bloit, and with sounds from Andrea Cera). The easy-to-use software makes MO a prime tool for youth music education, and is being tested in that area. MO was created in the framework of the Interlude project by a consortium of six organizations: IRCAM (coordinator), NoDesign, DaFact, Grame, Atelier des Feuillantines and Voxler. It is supported by ANR (French National Agency for Research) and Cap Digital. Phonotonic also is a contributor. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003ESecond prize winner MindBox Slot Machine was commended by the judges for its \u201cingenuity for instrument design.\u201d The instrument is encased in a vintage slot machine and centers on a very powerful idea in music: a modern take on the idea of the canon composition, where three discrete voices represented by the three slots are controlled independently. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMindBox interprets a very simple concept that\u2019s been with us for hundreds of years into a very powerful mechanism that is easy to perform on, and also can create\u2014with practice\u2014really compelling, sophisticated music,\u201d said Freeman. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EMindBox\u2019s creators at the Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe are planning an international traveling exhibition. \u201cWe are in negotiations with Asian and European museums,\u201d said Berlin based artist and composer Christain Graupner, who presented the instrument at the competition. MindBox is a work from the media art installation series H.RPMC (Re-Performing Musical Charakters).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELeon Gruenbaum, a New York musician and a graduate of Harvard University, captured third prize with Samchillian Tip Tip Tip Cheeepeeeee, a patented MIDI controller in the form of a modified ergonomic keyboard. The instrument\u0027s keystrokes denote changes of pitch, rather than fixed pitches, allowing the performer to play the exact same sequence of keys no matter what key signature he or she is in, simplifying finger patterns and allowing unusual, rapid improvisational flurries. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGruenbaum has performed internationally with this instrument in his own group \u0022Genes and Machines,\u0022 as well as with guitarists Vernon Reid (Living Colour), James Blood Ulmer and others. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EFour other entrants that were selected for the final performances are:\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TyqATpi_knw\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EThe Invisible Instrument\u003C\/a\u003E, by Atlanta native and current medical student Tim Soo;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=YH4aXAJJd6E\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EThe Electromagnetically Prepared Piano\u003C\/a\u003E, by Per Boland, a visiting assistant professor at Oberlin Conservatory of Music;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ro3CWrOfQlk\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EThe Submersible,\u003C\/a\u003E by University of Washington DMA candidate Richard Johnson Logan-Greene; and\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.vimeo.com\/15836881\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EKaleidoloop\u003C\/a\u003E, by Philadelphia musical instrument inventors Christopher Kucinski and Owen Osborn.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EA call for entries to the 2012 Margaret Guthman Musical Instrument Competition is scheduled to open in August 2011. Visit gtcmt.gatech.edu for updates.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe Georgia Tech Center for Music Technology is an international center for creative and technological research in music. Through collaborative partnerships, startup companies, interdisciplinary research projects and experimental performances, the center produces new modes of expression for performance, composition and listening. The annual Margaret Guthman Musical Instrument Competition is a platform for reaching out to the rest of the world and bringing like-minded inventors and composers together to develop their ideas and careers.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThis year\u2019s winning invention lets you make music with everyday objects\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27213","created_gmt":"2011-03-04 19:05:33","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:08:18","author":"Teri Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-03-04T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2011-03-04T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"64773":{"id":"64773","type":"image","title":"MO","body":null,"created":"1449176765","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:06:05","changed":"1475894571","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:51","alt":"MO","file":{"fid":"192092","name":"MO.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/MO_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/MO_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3189443,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/MO_0.jpg?itok=RT8JTaOU"}},"64774":{"id":"64774","type":"image","title":"MindBox Slot Machine","body":null,"created":"1449176765","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:06:05","changed":"1475894571","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:51","alt":"MindBox Slot Machine","file":{"fid":"192093","name":"MindBox.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/MindBox_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/MindBox_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1274410,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/MindBox_0.jpg?itok=usHTu2gY"}},"64772":{"id":"64772","type":"image","title":"Samchillian Tip Tip Tip Cheeepeeeee","body":null,"created":"1449176765","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:06:05","changed":"1475894571","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:51","alt":"Samchillian Tip Tip Tip Cheeepeeeee","file":{"fid":"192091","name":"Samchillian_Tip_Tip_Tip_Cheeepeeeee.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Samchillian_Tip_Tip_Tip_Cheeepeeeee_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Samchillian_Tip_Tip_Tip_Cheeepeeeee_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":6282223,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Samchillian_Tip_Tip_Tip_Cheeepeeeee_0.jpg?itok=qNlCoObo"}}},"media_ids":["64773","64774","64772"],"groups":[{"id":"1218","name":"Digital Lounge - Entertainment and Music"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"1936","name":"Center for Music Technology"},{"id":"1948","name":"Compose Music"},{"id":"6620","name":"computer music"},{"id":"1179","name":"Guthman Competition"},{"id":"1309","name":"music technology"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:teri.nagel@coa.gatech.edu\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ETeri Nagel\u003C\/a\u003E, Georgia Tech College of Architecture\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-2156\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}