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August 10, 2007

Is It Music or Just "Human Behavior"?

Oh Björk! You quixotic Icelandic vixen, you. You dancer on the tongue-tip of the art vanguard. You lucky multi-million-dollar musician.

bjork_reacTable.jpg

Unlike mere mortals who don't have the clout or funds to access such items, the modern music diva gets her very own reacTable with which to "wow audiences" while on tour this summer, according to Wired.com. SFist Leanne saw it in action herself, at Shoreline, back in May.

At first glance, we thought this was an article about a cool new toy for kids. Light-up blocks that make sound when moved? Awesome! But, no.

The idea of non-instrumental tactile objects and mechanisms being used to create or control electronic sounds, sound art, and even electronic music is hardly new. And the noise it makes seems rather retro-Laurie Anderson to us. We guess this lighted table and nifty cubes and cylinders might be as cool as local artist Pamela Z's BodySynth, if she would also light herself up from the inside with neon when she played it. Microsoft is also riding on the touch-table bandwagon. No need to mention what Mac has done with similar technology lately.

Sadly, we know that despite the reacTable's pretty-pretty visual revolution in audio technology, we will still be subjected on future occasions to sound-art performances where "musicians" break analog speakers apart onstage for the reverb fun of it, hammer pots with microphones, or sit placidly while twiddling knobs on a control panel.

Visit the Wired write-up to view a couple of YouTube clips showing the thing in action.

Photo Credit: Wired.com


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Comments (4)

It looks like a lighted Boggle board.

 

I saw Bjork's show twice with this thing, and it seemed like nothing but a distraction. I couldn't hear anything in the music that seemed to be correlated to what the guy was doing with the table.

At Coachella it was very annoying because the video screens were always focusing on the fool with the touchscreens rather than anything else happening on stage. The lasers were frickin' awesome though.

Microsoft are showing off a touchscreen table that looks pretty slick. Maybe you'll be able to have one at home in a couple of years.

 

Whoops -- yes, table top, not laptop. The post stands corrected. Thank you. Looked like a laptop to me in the dorky video clip. Here's a better one, complete with psychotic smiley face: http://zdnet.com.com/1606-2_2-6186146.html

 

This reminds me of Pete Townshend's Lifehouse Method project (which is somewhat connected to the Who's classic "Baba O'Riley")

 
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