Sewing Machine Orchestra & LA CHAMBRE DES MACHINES

Sewing Machine Orchestra from Martin Messier on Vimeo.

"Sewing machine orchestra is the first version of a performance created by martin messier. the basic sounds used in this performance consist entirely of the acoustic noises produced by 8 sewing machines, amplified by means of microcontacts and process by a computer.

the microcontroller system also enable to use the sewing machines to affect certain parameters of the acoustic sound. the wheel, for exemple, can be assigned to the output volume, etc. machine's mechanism can be activated by remote, using microcontrollers and a computer, without the need for any other human intervention.

these old objects has the effect of taking the imagination further, primarily through their evocative power. whether they remind of specific incidents or recall the relationship to such objects, few people remain indifferent when they see them.

this creation was made possible with the support of the canada council for the arts.

audio, light, performance : martin messier
electronic: samuel st-aubin"

LA CHAMBRE DES MACHINES from Martin Messier on Vimeo.

"At the beginning of the 20th century, when Italian futurist Luigi Russolo began to include “noise” in musical composition, he made a box into a musical instrument. This box, the intonarumori, concealed mysterious mechanisms. Contrary to the intonarumori, the box designed by Alexandre Landry is open. The mechanisms are revealed and perhaps allow us to better understand the music created through the open box. During the piece, intonarumori and clocks are meticulously animated to extract their musical qualities.

Manipulations and mechanical sounds are revealed in the play of crafting noise in real-time. Without tainting their nostalgic quality, digital technologies give a new context to the intonarumori and the old clocks. Thus, we will bring you into our “boxes” for a little while, to share with you the heart of their mechanisms."