Rolf Gehlhaar's Eyesound 2010

Electronic Music Performance: Rolf Gehlhaar’s Eyesound 2010

EyeSound is an electronic musical instrument. It uses the Kinect controller for the Xbox as developed by Microsoft with software adapted and developed by Rolf Gehlhaar and Vahakn Matossian. The Kinect employs computer vision in both the visual and infrared spectrum to locate persons within a 3-dimensional visual field. When appropriately decoded, this information can be used to trigger and control the voices of a synthesiser/sampler such as AbletonLive.

In the instance of EyeSound, the 3-dimensional visual field is mapped onto many different ‘voices’ of a sampler that players can trigger and control with their hands simply by placing and moving them in the visual field of the Kinect. This simple way of interacting with the instrument makes it possible for people with little physical skill to play an expressive, powerful musical instrument. A duet with EyeSound has been performed several times by Rolf Gehlhaar and Vahakn Matossian, most notably as a part of their performance and presentation for TEDx at Sussex Uiversity http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J-49lZorzA and at Music in a Field, Glastonbury, 2012. The duet with Eyesound at The Shoe Factory will be performed by Nouritza and Vahakn Matossian and will last approximately 20 minutes.

The event is part of the 5th International Pharos Contemporary Music Festival