DAVE-LOOKINGOUTWARDS-3

Printer Orchestra is made by isthis.gd from old computer hardware which are synced to play MIDI arrangements. The music they chose is lively, and I instantly became happy after seeing how cute these old parts are being as they clicked and clanked to make music. This reminded me of the MIDI arrangements played on floppy drives I had seen in the past. The only thing I wished that the makers would do is for them to upload a making of video, so we can see their “orchestra” play other musical arrangements, and how they configured and set up such a whimsical piece.

 

Fire Hero is by oswaldonfire as a version of Guitar Hero which instead of the original computer graphics effects, uses flamethrowers to represent notes being hit. When I first saw this project, I was struck by how insane the creators were; fire is scary, and I would never choose to use it as a medium. But seeing the flames sprout out in beat with the music, I am deeply impressed. The closest thing I have seen resembling this is equalizers, but this takes that to an extreme and dangerous territory. If only the video quality is more professional and they arranged it more dramatically, then that would bring out that edginess of this project even more.

 

It turns out all the projects I found are somehow related to music. Playa is made by rubendhers, and it uses motors, cables and cloth to play a chillingly ambient arrangement on 14 guitars. This provides a striking contrast to the previous 2 projects, as this generates a mysterious atmosphere, while printer Orchestra is whimsical and Fire Hero is hardcore extreme. The autonomous spinners, cables, and the brownish background gave me a steampunk impression, which contributes even further to that otherworldliness of the music and the mysterious atmosphere. This reminded me of my first visit to CMU: I walked into CFA, and I heard an ambient sound. Someone explained that it was Beethoven’s 9th played over the period of 24 hours. It created a feeling that one is constantly discovering and unraveling the secrets of the universe.

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