SensorbandCMJ.pdf

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ber 1993, at the Son Image festival in Berlin. Whilein Berlin, Edwin had the idea to form a trio. Sen-sorbands first performance was in December of1993, at Voyages Virtuels, a virtual reality exhibitorganized by Les Virtualistes in Paris.

I interviewed Sensorband in The Hague in No-vember 1996, and thereafter the discussion was ex-

tended through electronic mail. The topics of theinterview included: how they established an en-semble based entirely on new electronic instru-ments; the special musical and technical concernsassociated with the medium; their aesthetic viewson the relationship between science and art; andtheir influences and approaches. Before presentingthe interview, however, I will start with some ex-planatory notes about the musicians and theirunique instruments.

Background

The Performers

Zbigniew Karkowski (see Figure 1) was born in1958 in Krakow, Poland. Zbigniew studied composi-tion at the State College of Music in Gothenburg,Sweden, aesthetics of modern music at the Univer-sity of Gothenburgs Department of Musicology,and computer music at the Chalmers University ofTechnology. After completing his studies in Swe-den, he studied sonology for a year at the RoyalConservatory of Music in Den Haag, Netherlands.During his education, he also attended many sum-

mer composition master courses arranged by Cen-tre Acanthes in Avignon and Aix-en-Provence,France, studying with Iannis Xenakis, Olivier Mes-siaen, Pierre Boulez, and Georges Aperghis, amongothers.

Zbigniew works actively as a composer of bothacoustic music and electroacoustic computer mu-sic. He has written two pieces for large orchestra,

Bert Bongers An Interview withRijksakademie van Beeldende KunstenSarphatistraat 470 Sensorband1018 GW, Amsterdam, [email protected]

Sensorband, as the name suggests, is an ensembleof musicians who use sensor-based gestural control-lers to produce computer music. Gestural inter-facesultrasound, infrared, and bioelectric sen-sorsbecome musical instruments. The trioconsists of Edwin van der Heide, Zbigniew Karkow-ski, and Atau Tanaka, each a soloist on his instru-

ment for over five years. Edwin plays the MIDI-Conductor, a pair of machines worn on his hands.The MIDI-Conductor uses ultrasound signals tomeasure his hands relative distance, along withmercury tilt sensors to measure their rotational ori-entation. Zbigniew activates his instrument bymoving his arms in the space around him. This mo-tion cuts through invisible infrared beams mountedon a scaffolding structure. Atau plays the BioMuse,a system that tracks neural signals, translating elec-trical signals from the body into digital data. Toquote the groups World Wide Web page (http://zeep.com/sensorband), the result is a powerful mu-

sical force of intense percussive rhythms, deep puls-ing drones, and wailing melodic fragments.

As a developer of new electronic musical instru-ments, I have been involved in some of Sensor-bands projects, and have seen the group perform anumber of times, starting in 1994 at the Sonic ActsFestival in Paradiso, Amsterdam. At these concerts,the audience becomes involved in the compellingenergy of the performance, the relationship be-tween physical gesture and sound, and the musicalcommunication between the three performers. ASensorband concert is impressive in its display of in-strumental virtuosity, and proves that the three mu-

sicians have been playing together for some time.Although they had met each other individually

on several occasions (including the InternationalComputer Music Conference in Cologne in 1988),the first time the three met as a group was in Octo-

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Computer Music Journal, 22:1, pp. 1324, Spring 1998 1998 Massachusetts Institute of Technology


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both of which were commissioned and performedby the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, plus anopera and several chamber music pieces that wereperformed by professional ensembles in Sweden, Po-land, and Germany.

Atau Tanaka (see Figure 2) was born in Tokyoand educated in the USA. He studied electronic mu-

sic at Harvard University under Ivan Tcherepnin,composition and recording engineering at the Pea-body Conservatory, and computer music at Stan-ford Universitys Center for Computer Research inMusic and Acoustics (CCRMA). While at Stanford,he was asked to compose the first concert piece forBioMuse, a bioelectrical musical instrument (de-scribed below).

In 1992, during his studies at CCRMA, Atau wasawarded a residency at the Stanford atelier in the

Figure 1. Zbigniew Kar-kowski performs virtualpercussion in a cagethat is armed with infra-

red beams. (Photo by PeterKers.)

Cite

des Arts in Paris, and conducted research at In-stitut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM). Enticed by the rich musical cul-ture in Europe, he stayed on, settling in Paris forfive years. During this time, he concertized withthe BioMuse, and continued his work with sensortechnology, often working in residency at Stichting

Elektro-Instrumentale Muzeik (STEIM) in Amster-dam. In 1995, he became Artistic Ambassador forApple France for his work using interactive techno-logies for music. During this time, his work in-cluded solo sound/image performances, telematicconcerts, interactive media pieces, group perfor-mances in the French improvised-music scene, andthe creation of Sensorband. He is currently livingin Tokyo, pursuing network, noise, orchestral, andrecorded-music projects.

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pect was to build an environment where the perfor-mer on stage can act both as a composer and con-ductor without being attached to wires or any othercontraptions.

The system provides the performer with real-time control over parameters such as velocity/dy-namics, tempo, and articulation, as well as controlof the formal structure of the music, mainlythrough Max.

Atau Tanakas instrument, the BioMuse, is a bio-

signal musical interface developed by Hugh Lustedand Ben Knapp of BioControl Systems (Knapp andLusted 1990; Lusted and Knapp 1996). The Bio-Muse was developed at Stanford UniversitysCCRMA in conjunction with the Medical Schooland the Electrical Engineering Department. Theoriginal intent was to create a musical instrumentdriven by bioelectrical signals from the brain, skele-tal muscles, and eyeballs. The BioMuse is also usedin applications of eye tracking and brain-wave analy-sis, in work with the physically challenged, and intelemedecine. It uses electroencephalogram, electro-myogram (EMG), and electrooculogram signals, and

translates these analog bioelectrical signals intoMIDI and serial digital data.

Ataus musical work with the BioMuse uses theBioMuses four EMG channels. Each input channelreceives a signal from a differential gel electrodetriplet. Armbands with these electrodes are wornon the inner and outer forearm, tricep, and bicep.These signals are filtered and analyzed by the digi-tal signal processor (DSP) on-board the BioMuse,and converted to MIDI controller data as output. In

perform time stretching ondigitally sampled vocalsources. (Photo by PeterKers.)

Figure 3. Edwin van derHeide works with the

MIDI-Conductor, anultrasound-based spatial

hand-held instrument, to

Figure 2. Atau Tanaka usesmuscle signals and ges-tures to play the BioMuse

instrument. (Photo by Pe-ter Kers.)

Edwin van der Heide (see Figure 3) studied musictechnology at the Utrecht School of the Arts, andsonology at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague,where he graduated in 1992. Since then, Edwin hasbeen working as a solo performer and has been ac-tive in several collaborations and groups, includingSensorband, Loos, and Theatregroup Hollandia.

Recently, Edwin collaborated with Victor Wen-tink at the Delta Works in Holland on a permanentsound installation featuring over 60 loudspeakers,

commissioned by the Dutch government. Since1995, Edwin has taught sound design at the Inter-faculty Sound and Image at the Royal Conservatoryand the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague.

The Instruments

Zbigniew Karkowskis instrument is a system of32 infrared sensors mounted in velocity-sensitivepairs: 16 sensors are transmitters, and 16 are detec-tors. These sensors scan the position of the armsand the velocity of their movement. Voltage data

from these sensors is translated into MIDI by Vladi-mir Grafovs custom-built scanner. From there thedata is sent to Opcodes Max software (the struc-tural brain of the system), and to DigidesignsSample Cell II, which is the orchestra.

This system was developed by Zbigniew and UlfBilting in Sweden in 1990. The first performancewith it took place at STEIM in February, 1990. Zbig-niews initial idea was to be able to play music byjust moving his arms in the air. The important as-

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Ataus stage setup, the resulting data is routed to alaptop computer running Max. Max patches cre-ated by Atau transform the control data so that itcan enter a compositional framework, and then bedispatched to MIDI synthesizers and real-time

computer-graphics performance software.Edwin van der Heides instrument consists of

two elements: the controller part and the soundsynthesis part. The controller is called the MIDI-Conductor. A small series of these controllers wasdeveloped and built by the interviewer in a jointproject of the Institute of Sonology and STEIM, un-der the supervision of Michel Waisvisz, and mod-eled after Michels instrument, the Hands (Krefeld

Figure 4. Members of Sen-sorband perform on theSoundnet.

1990). (There is an active collaboration betweenSTEIM and the Royal Conservatory; both play im-portant roles in developing new instruments.For more information, on the World Wide Websee http://www.xs4all.nl/~steim and http://

www.koncon.nl/220/SOmain.html.)Edwins small, hand-held instrument has ultra-

sound sensors (for measuring the distance betweenboth hands), a pressure sensor, two tilt sensors, amovement sensor, and a number of switches. All ofthese sensors are connected to the STEIM Sensor-Lab, an embedded, programmable microcontrollerthat translates the signals into MIDI data.

For sound synthesis, Edwin uses a personal com-



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is modest compared to the physical aspect. Therope, the metal, and the humans climbing on it re-quire intense physicality, and focus attention onthe human side of the human-machine interaction,not on mechanistic aspects such as interrupts,mouse clicks, and screen redraws. Sensorband haschosen to work with digital recordings of naturalsounds. The signals from Soundnet control DSPsthat process the sound through filtering, convolu-tion, and waveshaping. Natural, organic elements

are thus put in direct confrontation with technol-ogy. The physical nature of movement meeting thevirtual nature of the signal processing creates adynamic situation that directly addresses sound asthe fundamental musical material. Through ges-ture and pure exertion, the performers sculpt rawsamples to create sonorities emanating from thehuge net.

The Soundnets immense size introduces an enor-mous challenge of instrumental virtuosity. Al-though innovative MIDI instruments are oftencalled controllers, with Soundnet, the notion ofcontrol is called completely into question: the in-

strument is too large for humans to thoroughlymaster. The ropes create a physical network of in-terdependent connections, so that no single sensorcan be moved in a predictable way that is indepen-dent of the others. It is a multi-user instrumentwhere each performer is at the mercy of the othersactions. In this way, the conflict of control versusuncontrollability becomes a central conceptual fo-cus of Soundnet.

Figure 5. The Soundnetsensor.

puter with an Ariel DSP-96 board. This board con-tains a Motorola 96000 floating-point DSP. Edwindeveloped the software. Algorithms such as real-time phase vocoding, oscillating harmonizers, androom simulation with Doppler-shift effect are usedalong with hard-disk recording and playback in alive concert environment. Besides the DSP, Edwinrecently started to use Supercollider on the AppleMacintosh for real-time granular synthesis and cha-otic looping of samples.

In addition to playing their individual instru-ments, the Sensorband musicians also perform to-

gether on Soundnet, an architectural musical instru-ment of monumental proportions (see Figure 4and the front cover). It is a giant web, measuring11 11 m, strung with 16-mm-thick shippingrope. At the end of the ropes, there are eleven sen-sors that detect stretching and movement. Thethree Sensorband musicians perform on the instru-ment by climbing it. Soundnet was commissionedby the festivals Visas and Exit in Paris, where it wasfirst performed upon in April 1996. It was then per-formed upon at the Dutch Electronic Arts Festival,organized by the V2 Organization in Rotterdam.

Soundnet was inspired by the Web, a spider

web 1 m in diameter that was created by MichelWaisvisz at STEIM and the Institute of Sonology.The idea with Soundnet was to scale the Web to asize proportional to human spiders. The sensors(see Figure 5) were designed by the interviewer andfabricated by Theo Borsboom, a Harley-Davidsonmechanic. The sensors are located inside each cylin-der, with a spring and piston that can sustain 500kg of weight. The large spring resembles a motorcy-cles shock absorber. Inside the cylinder is a largefader (potentiometer). As the performers climb theropes, the sensors stretch and move in response totheir movements. This displaces the faders inside,

sending a variable-voltage control signal to theiCube, which is the computer interface box. (For in-formation about the Infusion Systems iCube, seethe World Wide Web site at http://www.infusionsystems.com.) The iCube sends a MIDIsignal to a Macintosh that is running the Maxsoftware.

Soundnet is a musical instrument using inter-active technology; however, the technology aspect

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Musical Roles in Sensorband

Bongers: With the kind of technology you are us-ing, it is possible to play each others parts and con-trol each others sounds. Can you describe yourroles in the group?van der Heide: Each musicians sound depends onthe type of sensors he uses. For instance, Zbig-niews sensors are triggers, so he plays more percus-sive sounds. Atau and I both play more with timbreand sound color. It is one of the secrets of why Sen-sorband works so well.

Tanaka: The fact that we settled on these instru-ments is an important part of what we do. There isa common gesture-based element among thesethree instruments. However, since each instrumentworks with a different kind of sensor, each serves adifferent function in the ensemble. The musicwould change if the instruments were different.van der Heide: As with any genre, the combinationof instruments, and the sound sources attached tothem, help define the ensemble. For example, witha string trio, there are string instruments. . . . But Iwould not be able to play Zbigniews part well.Karkowski: It would sound different. Nevertheless,

the important thing is that there is always the pos-sibility that we can play each others instruments.Tanaka: The three instruments sometimes take onseparate roles, sometimes start to blend together,sometimes confuse each other and then go apartagain.Karkowski: In a way, the only thing that definesour different roles are the limitations of our instru-ments. This is one of the only traditional aspects ofthe group.Bongers: Have you ever considered adding a fourthmember to the band?Karkowski: We have not thought about it, but we

are open to collaboration.van der Heide: We have just realized a project,Xtended Thrill, in collaboration with Granular Syn-thesis at InterCommunication Center (ICC ) of Japa-nese Telecom in Tokyo.Karkowski: We also performed with percussionistPaul Koekat DasArts in Amsterdam in 1996.Tanaka: The performance we did with Paul was ex-citing for usSensorband plus a guest. The trio

acts as a good core unit, because the idea of threesensor instruments is a simple and straightforwardconcept. Three is a good number. In a trio, the in-struments can be either solo or accompaniment,virtuosic or egalitarian. It has always been a strongensemble in other musical genres, whether it isstring trio, jazz trio, or power trio.van der Heide: The trio is the smallest ensemblewith which you can create all the musical forms.Karkowski: There were many groups in the historyof popular music that consisted of soloists playingtogetherfor example, Cream, the seminal virtu-

oso rock power trio of the late 1960s (Eric Clapton,Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker).Tanaka: In Sensorband, we each bring the soundsof our solo performances to the group, so the prob-lem often can be that the texture is too thick whenwe are all playing at once.Karkowski: We used to all play at once all thetime! [All laugh.]van der Heide: There are still many forms of thistrio that we have not explored yet. The first timewhere we really started working with duos againstduos, to form duos inside the trio, was at the con-cert in November 1996 in Krakow, Poland at the

Audio Arts Festival.Bongers: Does the audience experience you as agroup or as individual soloists?van der Heide: The presentation is a band presen-tation.Karkowski: We are a band, because we perform asan ensemble. [See Figure 6.]van der Heide: We never give solo performances onthe same concert.Karkowski: [laughs] Only very long solos!Tanaka: Because of our musical roles during perfor-mance, the audience perceives us as a group. Thereis a mass of computer-generated electronic sound

coming from three musicians on stage. The audi-ence must distinguish who is playing what. Atsome moments it is clear, and there are other mo-ments where it is unclear. We can play with thisambiguity. It is a kind of natural reaction on thepart of the audience to try to make a connection be-tween the physical gesture they see and what theyhear. However, to do so is difficult, because thesesounds are unknown. These are abstract computer-



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for a number of years. I have hardly changed mysounds in the last five years. [Edwin laughs loudly.]Tanaka: This is an important point, because we aredealing with a technological field where somepeople change machines every year. But each of ushas been working with technology-based instru-

ments to sustain the relationship with the machinefor a longer time. One has to stay with a violin for20 years to begin to really master it. The issueswith these new kinds of instruments is that thereis no performance-practice history; it is based ontechnology that flips and changes every year. Forme, it was interesting with the BioMuse to find aninstrument I could stick with for some time and ex-plore it in depth. It is different from the way most

Figure 6. Sensorband inconcert.

generated sounds, whereas with acoustic ensemblemusic there is always some prior knowledge of howthe individual instruments sound.Bongers: I can imagine that it is important to de-fine your boundaries, to limit your playing in perfor-mance. Perhaps the danger with all this technology

is that the musical possibilities are limitless andvariable. How do you cope with this compositionalproblem?Karkowski: The most important problem is thedanger of confusing yourself as the performer.When one performs something for a long time itfeels like a part of him. When he tries somethingnew, it can feel foreign. The strength of the group isthat we have been working with certain technology

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people deal with this kind of technology in the arts. . .they wait for the new machine to come out nextyear, and when they get it, they have to start allover again. Our approach has many ties to tradi-tional instrumental music in this way.van der Heide: Although I am still working on 3-Dsound and a better system, I came back to usingthe MIDI-Conductor again, which I have been us-ing for more than six years now. I am feeling moreand more comfortable with it, and at the sametime, I am becoming much more responsive andmusical in playing the instrument in the ensemble.

Karkowski: I recently watched an interview withPierre Boulez on French television, where he men-tioned that there always will be a difference be-tween computer music and traditional instrumen-tal music, because musicians can perform (orinterpret) gestures, and computers cannot. Wethink that is the previous generations view on com-puters. One of the most important goals for us is tomake gestural music performances with com-puters.van der Heide: Every medium has its own quali-ties. A recording will never sound the same as alive concert, because the recording plays exactly

the same thing twice, which you never can do in alive performance. On the other hand, you couldalso compose especially for this recorded medium.So, each medium has its own advantages for thecomposer.Karkowski: This is obvious. The whole movementof punk rock illustrated this in a clear way. Live per-formance is mainly about attitude and presenceitcan even be more important than what is created. Iam convinced that the performers attitude and en-ergy on stage is more important than the soundcoming from the speakers. And, of course, in the re-corded media, this aspect is eliminated.

Tanaka: I like Edwins idea that certain media canexploit certain musical gestures, because it relatesto the earlier notion of idiomatic instrumentalwriting.Karkowski: The computer is an instrument, but itis actually a tool as well. If one uses an instru-mentsay, a violin or guitarin a non-idiomaticway; for instance, if one plays the violin with achain saw or drill machine, then it is not only an in-

strument in the traditional sense, but also a newtool to make sound.van der Heide: Yes, but not just another tool. It ismore, because using a computer in live perfor-mance is an artistic choice. There is much to gainby using a particular medium. This decision re-flects the interest and artistic choices of the per-former.Tanaka: A performer begins by highlighting charac-teristics of a certain tool or a technology for inter-esting artistic use, by featuring its capabilities, aswell as its limitations. The word tool implies

something utilitarian, something more generalist.With a tool, there is the hope that it will becomebetter at its job, and will perhaps someday do every-thing. With an instrument, on the other hand, theperformer accepts its limitations, and in fact, cele-brates them, taking into account the instrumentspersonality.

The problem with computers is that they are gen-eralist devices. Here we are, on stage, with thesame computers that people use to keep their fi-nances. So I make a choice of software, a choice ofthe way I work with the computer, and this startsto define my instrument.

van der Heide: If one uses score- or note-generatingprograms, the question becomes whether the musictheyre making is theirsor is it the music fromthe program?Tanaka: But then, a piece of software can take on akind of personality, like an instrument. Dissimilar-sounding music made with a certain program cansound similar. Although this is often criticized,maybe it is not such a bad thingperhaps the pro-gram can have an interesting musical personality ofits own?

Network Concerts

Bongers: In addition to the computer instruments,another medium that you have been experimentingand performing with is the network concert, whereeach of you perform live from totally different geo-graphical locations. Can you describe how thisstarted, and how you deal with the specific compo-sitional or logistical problems you encounter? Is it



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New York, processed by me, and sent back to Paris.When we practiced this piece in Paris before theconcert, we rehearsed it using a digital-delay simu-lation. When we perform using ISDN, we do notwant to make the performance as accurate as pos-sible in the traditional sense, but as different as pos-sible. It is a completely different medium.Karkowski: For example, during our residency inCanada in August 1996 (at Obscure, part of theMeduse arts center in Quebec City), we presentedan ISDN concert using the system in a nonstandardway. It was interesting to do only two things with

itthe exact things that others try to avoidnamely, feedback and delay.van der Heide: One of the interesting applicationswith network technology is to retransmit the pro-jection from a signal coming from one space backto that same space, as a kind of feedback. Distanceis one of the important issues in using ISDN. Dis-tance becomes one of the issues of the compo-sition.Karkowski: Another artistic aspect with ISDN con-certs is the idea of control. Very often, composersuse computers to achieve greater control. We havefound, after playing several concerts like this, that

we could never control the output 100 percent. As-pects like the delay become unknown variables,which is interesting.Tanaka: As artists, our first instinct is not to maketechnical improvements to the system, but rather,to manipulate the technology in a creative manner.The technical limitations become characteristics ofthe composition. Doing this allows us not to be soworried about transmission delay, rather, to be con-cerned about the general notion of distance. Webring the element of distance to a concert, which,as Zbigniew said, we sometimes have difficulty con-trolling.

Karkowski: Instead of merely using technology, wetry to do something truly musical with it . . . theaudience feels the passion.Tanaka: Yes, I have had many reactions frompeople about emotion or the passion of the musicalcommunication that we attempt to maintainthrough the distance. In fact, a different result isheard in each of the three locations, which is com-pelling.

also for convenience, when one of the band mem-bers cannot be there, or is it for artistic reasons?Tanaka: In our ISDN [Integrated Services DigitalNewtork] concerts, we use videoconferencing tech-nology to perform a live concert. This network tech-nology consists of a certain audio quality which isnot CD quality, a certain video quality whichmakes the image look like it is coming from themoon, and time delay. When other musicians areconfronted with the system, the first thing they re-quest is to eliminate the time delay. But we feelthat it is a characteristic of this system, and con-

sider this transmission medium, video conferenc-ing, as part of our extended instrument. A Sen-sorband concert for ISDN is different fromSensorband live. We never use it to compensate fora missing member, it has never been for replace-ment. We try to distinguish that clearly.

As you mentioned, the performance situation isan ensemble where one musician is local but theother musicians are distant. Therefore, the audi-ence is more separated from the musicians who areprojected on video screens. But somehow, due tothe mode of communication, or the medium that isused, the audience relates to the contact dynamic

between the local musician and the musicians per-forming on the video, engaging with these distantperformers. The fact that this human interactiontakes place through these severely compromisedconditions raises the audiences awareness to prob-lems like trying to keep eye contact, or trying to re-spond to each other using the delay, or in spite ofthe delay. The nice surprise is that the audiencejoins us in a natural way.van der Heide: The first concert with ISDN was aconcert where Atau and I were in New York per-forming with Camel Zekri, an acoustic guitarist,who was in Paris, and both spaces already had

ISDN connections. This was not a Sensorband per-formance. This piece of mine was written as a localpiece for guitar and MIDI-Conductor. It alsoworked well over ISDN, because there was heavy in-teraction between me and the guitar player as I pro-cessed his sounds and sent them back. In theplaces where his acoustic sound was not amplified,the only sound that was audible was the processedsound from his guitar. These sounds were sent to

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Japan and the Relationship Between Art and

Science

Bongers: You are now involved in the Japanese artscene. Is it different from the situation in Europe orthe USA?Tanaka: In Europe, the composers function is re-spected to a certain degree, but at the same timethe use of technology challenges this role. That iswhy Japan is an interesting place right now, be-cause art in a non-occidental culture has had a dif-ferent sociological role. The notion of high art is a

Western European notion. This is a system that hasbeen imposed on artistic expression and productionworldwide. Conversely, in Japan, art is tied to crafts-manship. Even though Japanese culture has success-fully assimilated the Western way, Japan keeps itscultural traditions of thousands of years, where anartist was more of a craftsman. This living historycombined with the arrival of technology puts Ja-pans culture at an interesting crossroads now.van der Heide: In Europe, art and science are oftenseparated, whereas Japan is one of the few coun-tries where art and science are more integrated.The link between art and technology is important.

A couple of centuries ago, art and science belongedtogether, where as today, scientists are often takenseriously only if they prove things in a rational way.Tanaka: I agree that art and science are not so farin spirit. I have a scientific background, parallel tomy musical training. Technology arts such as com-puter music give us the chance to show how closethese things have always been.Karkowski: I think that there is always art beforethe science.Tanaka: The fact that science is rational and artdoes not have to be is one distinguishing character-istic.

van der Heide: Art is rational, too, but in a subjec-tive way.Tanaka: Art deals with the irrational in a way thatscience does not.Karkowski: Art created during the Surreal, Dada,and Romantic movements was based in irratio-nality.Tanaka: Yes, these were art movements that delib-erately eliminated rationalism. The difference be-

tween rational and irrational is interesting, butmore fascinating is to identify what kind of humanspirit can be inside a person who pursues scientificresearch or who pursues musical creation. Havingworked in scientific research in music, I find thereare some common creative components calledupon in the artist and in the researcher.Bongers: There are many examples of great scien-tists who have been good amateur musicians aswell.Tanaka: And vice versa, there are many musicianswho are technically quite capable. Edwin, for ex-

ample, creates his own DSP programs, but forpurely musical reasons. As an artist, you must ques-tion how many of these jobs you want to take on:the instrument builder, the composer, the perfor-mer, or all three.van der Heide: It is a matter of attitude as well. Iam definitely not making my inventions to sell, be-cause if I do that, I am not the artist anymore. Forexample, developing inventions is still fine, but Iam not nurturing my artistic self when I start sell-ing, doing business, and going to meetings.Karkowski: One can always say he or she is a scien-tist, or a soldier, or a doctor, but it is difficult to say

when one is an artist; it is generally something thatartists would not say about themselves. Of course,there are exceptions like Beethoven or Wagner, buteven with them I think someone else called themartists first.van der Heide: That is the problem right now be-cause the definition of artist, the whole word art-ist in discussion at this moment, is not a stablething anymore. If one says he or she is an artist or acomposer, people expect the person to be a painteror write for an orchestra.Karkowski: Actually, there have never been somany artists in the world as there are now, because

the Western world is rich. We have money to spendfor art and education, and many countries evenhave unions for painters and musicians.Tanaka: When one goes to a record store, there isso much music to choose from, it is almost de-pressing. At the same time, technology is some-thing that enables or democratizes the creativeprocess, so that the most idealistic people have thenotion that anyone can be an artist. But in the



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this tradition now. Before we started Sensorband,the only person in the world I knew who made mu-sic this way was Michel Waisvisz, and I saw himperform several times. Generally, Michel inspiredme to some degree. . . . He is a great performer. . . .[All agree.] For many years, he continued to per-form with the same instrument, instead of continu-ing to improve it technically.Tanaka: We have precedents like Michel, and be-fore that, Theremin and Max Mathews. In fact,there is much research happening in our field ongestural control. But we should not forget about

purely musical influences and artistic objectives.This is what is newnot necessarily the technol-ogy, or the idea of sensor control over computer-generated music, but the aesthetic, structural ap-proaches, and the performance practice we es-tablish.van der Heide: When one makes music, one shoulddevelop ones own way of thinking, and not base iton other peoples ideas. To a certain extent one can,but one should always say, well, leave it, let us seewhat happens if I do it myself. My instrument, theMIDI-Conductor, is based on Michels instrument,the Hands, but I use it differently than he does,

both musically and in performance practice.Tanaka: While we may be part of a new tradition,it is impossible to say that we are doing somethingcompletely new. Artists are trying to come to gripswith where to move after postmodernism. Postmod-ernism was one approach to dealing with thewealth of historical knowledge we have. I am look-ing for other ways to acknowledge the breadth of in-fluences we have, not in a collage-like way, but inan integrated fashion.Karkowski: I think that what we are doing is reallywithout tradition. Or if there is tradition, it wouldbe right at the rootsmusic as ritual, trance, and

pure energy. Sensorbands music is contemporary,non-commercial, and we use new technology. Wewant to communicate. Our concerts exploit energy,we want the audience to feel like they have just got-ten their batteries reloaded. We want them to feelstronger and like better human beings.Tanaka: Music is that art form that takes a certaintechnique, requires a certain logical approach, butat the same time, needs subconscious magic to be

hands of a creative person, technology can take ona different dimension.Karkowski: We are quite skeptical about technol-ogy, but we are just using it. Still, the real issues weare dealing with in the group are totally on a differ-ent level.Tanaka: We are not alone in being skeptical. Thisis definitely the trend in technology in the artstoquestion these things, and no longer just worshiptechnological advancements.

Influences and Approaches

Bongers: Are there pioneers in the field of live elec-tronic music, new instruments, or other styles orart forms who have influenced your work?van der Heide: I could mention a few names heretoday, but tomorrow I would name three othernames.Tanaka: Today, many artists have diverse influ-ences. We are part of that generation. But at thesame time, we are attempting to distill some ofthese influences to present a pure message in ourmusic.

Karkowski: I really could not tell you my influ-ences; I mean, there are many of them, but they allchange with time.van der Heide: For a long time, artistic develop-ment has been linear, where each movement hasbeen a reaction to a previous movement. The avantgarde has always been a reaction to what happenedbefore, but at this moment, we are reinventing thelanguage. A lot of things have been done before,but not with this technology. There are a lot ofmovements going on simultaneously now. You can-not speak about a general linear development inthe arts anymore.

Tanaka: This is a product of the information agewe live in. These days, consumers can go to recordshops and choose any music of any period that theywant to hear. A hundred years ago, this was not thecase for either the listener or the composer. Nowwe are more aware of different currents and influ-ences than artists ever were before.Karkowski: With Sensorband, we are creating some-thing that really has no tradition. We are starting

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successful. In our art form, there is a balance be-tween logic and intuition. Music often reacts lateto new artistic movements, but music is alwaysahead of the other arts in issues of perception andcreative applications of technology. There are someconcrete examples of issues that we have been con-fronting for a long time in computer music, such asreal time and interactivity, which have been ad-dressed only recently in fields such as virtual real-ity and computer graphics. Interactivity and realtime may be in vogue now, but time and communi-cation are the essence of music. These are concepts

that are essential in our art form, independent oftechnology. Musical performance has always hadmultiple modes of interaction: between performerand instrument, between conductor and orchestra,and between musician and audience. The stage hasalways been a real-time environment.

Acknowledgment

I would like to thank Anne Deane for her help inediting this article.

References

Knapp, R. B., and H. S. Lusted. 1990. A Bioelectric Con-troller for Computer Music Applications.Computer

Music Journal14(1):4247.Krefeld, V. 1990. The Hand in the Web: An Interview

with Michel Waisvisz.Computer Music Journal14(2):2833.

Lusted, H. S., and R. B. Knapp. 1996. Controlling Com-puters with Neural Signals.Scientific American(October):5863.


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