Speaker Synth
(Performance information can be found at www.seseyann.com/music)
Speaker Synth is a five-speaker array with no external audio input, created by Lesley Flanigan. The only components in the system are the instrument's speakers, piezoelectric microphones, amplifying circuits, and the hands of the performer. Speaker Synth is played by positioning individual piezo microphones with their corresponding speakers and manipulating their associated on/off and volume controls to induce a variation of feedback effects. During the performance, samples from both Speaker Synth and a vocalist are captured and sequenced to build a dense sonic pallet of rhythms and melodies. The performance explores music making through structuring noise, highlighting relationships between analog and digital sound synthesis and between human voice and the voice of an instrument.
Lesley Flanigan with Speaker Synth in performance at Monkey Town, New York City, January 2008
Demos:
Speaker Synth Play Demo 1 (.mov)
Speaker Synth Play Demo 2 (.mov)
Speaker Synth Computer Sampling Demo (.mp3)
Performances:
(Above: first half of Monkey Town performance, January 2008)
Monkey Town, NYC, January 2008 with Mike Dory on bass (.mov) - 15 min
Exit Art, NYC, December 2007 with the Speaker Feedback Choir (.mp3) - 10 min
Monkey Town, NYC, November 2007 (.mp3) - 20 min
Speaker Feedback Instruments
The most recent Speaker Feedback Instruments use the original basic design of Speaker Synth, but the speakers are built into their own individual boxes for various performance installation options and they also have additional controls for remote sampling and sequencing using a computer.
6 Speaker Feedback Instruments on display at ITP/NYU Spring Show 2008
Demos and Performances:
3 min edit of a performance with 6 Speaker Feedback Instruments at St. Patrick's Old Cathedral, NYC April 2008
Clip from a performance with Speaker Feedback Instruments at The Tank, NYC May 2008
Close Up of 6 Speaker Feedback Instruments on display at ITP/NYU Spring Show 2008
Brief demo of 6 Speaker Feedback Instruments on display at ITP/NYU Spring Show 2008
Brian Jepson interview at ITP/NYU Spring Show 2008: http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/05/speaker_feedback_instrume.html