STEIM Cracklebox

via brian c

"Here's a picture of my "new" Steim cracklebox... This is unit 70 of 500 produced in a third run from STEIM dated 2005.

The build quality is much better than I expected, it has a finger jointed wooden box and a hinged top - cool

I'm gonna mic it so I can sample it and run it through some effects."

MkII Barbie Karaoke control voltage test

YouTube via eddie23a
"MkII Barbie Karaoke control voltage test with sequencer.
built at Steim, Amsterdam"

STEIM is safe!

You might remember this post on STEIM potentially losing their structural funding from the government (see that post for more). Well, it looks like they are safe!

"Dear friends,

We have good news: STEIM is safe for now and will be able to continue doing her work.

The Dutch Council for Culture has reversed their initially negative decision. They were without a doubt impressed by the well over 1000 insightful, eloquent, personal letters of support from all over the world, which we received in just under two weeks. This, as well as some other factors, played a large role in opening their perception of STEIM's importance and contribution to our community and field.

We cannot thank you enough. You helped us realize again how extensive and faithful the network around us is. We are excited and thrilled that we can keep working with you and continue to build collaborations, connections and exchanges.

STEIM is bound for change, but we will fight to keep its spirit intact. Michel Waisvisz has left us, but along with his legacy of inventions and a very human 'touch', he has left a dynamic team behind. Under the guidance of our new director, Dick Rijken, our task is now to create a new structure that will honour both our history as an institution and look forward into the future. STEIM is what STEIM does: supporting a wide community of artists and composers, musicians and other performers in their search for great art, on stage, in the studio, in gallery spaces and on the streets. We will continue to be a safe house for an international community, bringing people together in our guesthouse and studio's.

Together with you, we aim to remain both the oldest and the youngest electronic institute in the Netherlands and are thrilled to continue working with you.

STEIM"

speakingObject

YouTube via ffoitl. via Music Thing.
"during my 11 days at STEIM i did a working prototype of the second incarnation of the "speakingObject" (no better title still). it's basically a vocal synthesizer controlled by two buttons and a three axis accelerometer. it works without a computer. the two wires are just power and sound out. the finished object will work on batteries and include an amp plus speaker so there will be no wires at all.

links:
http://joerg.piringer.net
http://www.steim.nl"

Michael Waisvisz - the Hands

YouTube via davidjmerrill. via Music Thing. Michael Waisvisz of STEIM and creator of the Crackle Box recently passed away.
"This is a video from the NIME conference in 2003. It features Michel Waisvisz, performing with his "Hands" musical interface."

RIP Michel Waisvisz of STEIM

"Michel Waisvisz died peacefully in his home last night after fighting the mean cells in his body for the last eight months.

He was born on the 8th of July 1949 and lead STEIM as Director for 27 years. He left us on a day when artists and friends from around the world gathered downstairs to perform for a full-house season-closing concert.

Michel was a musician, visionary and occasional gardener - touched by sound and forever happy to be surprised. He was the source of an enormous surge of energy that continues to flow through STEIM into the world.

We will miss his touch, crackle, inspiration and constant improvisation of the now.

STEIM
June 19, 2008"
YOU CAN HELP STEIM HERE
Michel Waisvisz on Wikipedia
STEIM on MATRIXSYNTH
Crackle Box on MATRIXSYNTH
Michel Waisvisz created the Crackle Box and more.

Steim Needs Your Help!

via Tom of Music Thing

"Steim - the Dutch folks who make the Cracklebox and lots more besides - need folks to send emails to the Dutch government, to prove that making electronic music isn't just of interest to a 'niche audience'"

via STEIM:
"Things are not well at STEIM. We are in the danger of losing our structural funding from the government, based on a review from the advisor board which called us 'closed and only appealing to a niche audience'. The outlook isn't exactly bleak, but at the moment our future is unclear."

Click here to help. I did. There is an electronic form you can fill out if you do not have time to actually mail a letter. It took me 5 minutes. Here's what I wrote if it helps:

"Hi, I run http://matrixsynth.blogspot.com/. My site and my reader base consists of musicians, technology professionals, artists and more. Since I started the site in 2005 I have had over four million page views. I receive over 10,000 page views a day. These are actual people, not web bots. I have featured numerous posts on the Cracklebox and DIY projects. My reader base and myself value what Stein offers to the community. Many professional developers and electrical engineers are greatly influenced by the DIY community. In a sense it is where interest and careers are built in exploring various technologies and techniques. STEIM nourishes this either directly via the projects they work on or indirectly via the exposure of their projects on sites similar to mine. Young potential engineers may take their first steps after finding interest in what groups like STEIM have to offer. It has come to my attention that STEIM is in danger of losing their structural funding. Please do not let this happen."

Thanks to Tom of Music Thing for the heads up.

Michel Waisvisz - Touch Sound

Title link takes you to a fascinating post on Michel Waisvisz on We Make Money Not Art. Michel invented the crackle box.

"One of the co-founders of STEIM which co-hosted the MMW, Waisvisz is a composer/performer of live electronic music, who has invented new ways to achieve physical touch with electronic music instruments, for example by literally touching the electricity inside the instruments.

He discussed his fascination for the VC3, a synthetiser that can be used without a keyboard, adding that the idea of the keyboard comes from church music and thus carries a series of connotations with it. He bought a Putney VC3 synthesiser, opened its back and put his fingers inside. He thus used the body to extend the circuitry and modified the sound in ways he found interesting." This led to the invention of the crackle box.

Warning: Do not try this at home kiddies. I'd be a bit too paranoid of getting shocked myself.

via F-mass london

DIY Kraakdoos / Crackle Box

I've mentioned the Crackle Box before, but I just realized I never put up a post exclusively on it and the home page for it. Title link takes you there.
"The Kraakdoos, or Crackle Box, was designed by Michel Waisvisz of STEIM in the seventies, the main concept being that the human body becomes a vital part of the electronics (or the other way around) while playing it. It is a touch and pressure sensitive device that squeeks and makes a lot of noise when played with."

There are samples on site.