By wearing a costume we change what we look like. It is less common to change not only our visual appearance but our sonic appearance … read more
Touch Amplifiers by Özgür Erkök Moroder and Steffi Weismann
Points of Contact by Erfan Abdi
Big eyes as contact microphones, a bird cage as a loudspeaker, and two double spring objects of which one functions as a microphone and the other as a loudspeaker: this is the inventive set-up Erfan Abdi uses for his performance … read more
The Springboard by Eric Leonardson
Eric Leonardson invented his Springboard in 1994. This instrument is an excellent example of how the simple addition of a contact microphone can create a beautiful sonic phantasmagoria out of ordinary objects. When you look at the instrument, you can … read more
Touche Nature by I-lly Cheng
Vibrations of loudspeaker membranes cause air pressure waves, which our hearing system perceives as sound. As long as they are travelling through the air, these sound waves remain invisible to human … read more
Speaker Dress by Pauchi Sasaki
Our clothes can be seen as a form of communication between ourselves and the outside world. They give a visual impression of who we are and how we would like to be seen by others. Pauchi Sasaki designs dresses which … read more
Apart by Oscar Bettison
As I describe in chapter three of Between Air and Electricity tuning forks are in some ways a kind of predecessor of microphones and loudspeakers. They can also be seen as a predated sine tone generator. Tuning forks were extremely … read more
Transducer by Robin Fox and Eugene Ughetti
In Transducer (2013), you may easily recognise all kinds of “classical” playing techniques for microphones and loudspeakers, twisted in surprising and clever ways. This results in a performance which reinvents and expands known pieces such as Steve Reich’s Pendulum Music… read more
Speaker Feedback Instruments by Lesley Flanigan
The speaker feedback instruments by Lesley Flanigan are a beautiful example of combining acoustic feedback and musical instruments. What makes the technology of these instruments exceptional is their use of so-called contact microphones (simple piezo-ceramic elements) instead of a … read more
A sympathetic piano by Gökhan Deneç
p. 115 Rainforest by David Tudor
Several performances of Rainforest (1968-1973) by David Tudor, all using different objects attached to tactile transducers: