Dance and create in rAys V2.0! With an array of 64 lasers the audience can generate audio and visuals, where every movement (or, better: every intersection of a vertical laser beam with your body) directly corresponds to a sound or graphic. Somehow I can't really see the synaesthetics and the tight interaction in the video documentation all the time, but I believe it's a great experience and a cool idea. rAys V2.0 from Beyond Expression on Vimeo. rAys V2.0 is a media installation by artist Raymond Deirkauf from the Netherlands, which was produced by Beyond Expression from Amsterdam.

David Byrne converted the Great Hall of the former lower Manhattan ferry terminal into a gigantic musical instrument. Playing the Building is Byrne's latest sonic innovation, and morphs the century-old Battery Maritime Building into a clanging, vibrating sound sculpture. A retrofitted, antique organ that acts as the control station for the musical instrument. In this installation, the former Talking Heads co-founder blurs the boundaries between the creators and consumers of culture. He explains: "Devices [have been] attached to the building's structure — to the metal beams and pillars, the heating pipes, the water pipes — and are used to make these things produce sound. The activations are of three types: wind, vibration, striking. The devices cause the building elements to vibrate, resonate and oscillate so that the building itself becomes a very large musical instrument." Playing the Building continues through August 10, 2008 at 10 South Street, New York, NY; open every Friday through Sunday, noon - 6pm. Admission is free of charge.

I posted about the Tenori-On before, and it seems that audio interfaces for electronic music are becoming more and more of a high-tech thing. I stumpled over the LEMUR by accident, looked at the website and was just amazed by how this multi-touch interface offers sheer endless possibilities of controls. And what's really interesting is, how they managed to have a multi-touch surface on a screen that actually recognizes exact coordinates. We will have to look into this more detailed. Make sure to check out the video demos. [gallery]

This has been quite around for a while but I just stumbled upon it again recently. The Yamaha Tenori-On is a music sequencer that allows you not only linear, but 2-dimensional audio programming. Additionally it sports cool visual effects on the 16x16 grid screen. This makes it not only a pleasure to listen to but also to look at. It's a very playful and easy way of making music that sounds good in just a short amount of time. It opens new ways of producing to artists and an easy access for amateurs to the world of music programming. [gallery] Make sure you check out some videos on Youtube watching artists getting their hands on a Tenori-On for the first time, it's just great what people do with it right away. P.S.: Because we already talk about sound and music, I want to share this video, it doesn't really fit into the schematics of this blog but it's very entertaining and worth sharing. Enjoy.