Eigenharp Developers Conference 2012

YouTube Uploaded by eigenlabs on Jan 25, 2012

"Video of the Eigenharp Developers Conference 2012 which took place from the 20th of January until 22nd in the beautiful Sweeton Manor, Dartmoor, UK."

That What Remains (Instrumental Eigenharp Alpha)

YouTube Uploaded by gbevin on Jan 1, 2012

"This is an original composition on the Eigenharp Alpha using only the U-he Diva virtual analog synth.

Many thoughts of what remains after people have left this earth.

This music can be freely downloaded from SoundCloud here:
http://soundcloud.com/gbevin/that-what-remains"

Eigenlabs Eigenharp Pico - Silver

via this auction

The seller also has a Speck X.Sum Summing Line Mixer listed.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Eigenharp Alpha Hang Drum improvisation

YouTube Uploaded by gbevin on Dec 7, 2011

"I was feeling quite a bit emotional and stressed tonight and needed something that really relaxed me, so I started playing with my custom Eigenharp Alpha Hang Drum setup. Since I got some requests to record a video with it, I just recorded the session and I came up with these themes. I'm not a great percussionist by any means, so this is just what it is, hope you like it.

This is solely using the sampled Mk1 and Mk2 Hang Drums from SonicCouture's Pan Drums product.

Instead of playing them as regular instruments on the Eigenharp, I arranged the two different sampled Hang Drums on the playing surface of the Eigenharp Alpha so that one is on top and the other at the bottom. The notes of the Hang Drums are structured in colored 'zones' of five keys which correspond to the different articulations for the same note. This means that I can just hit the area without thinking about musical notes and get into a percussion mindset. The arrangement is very similar to what would happen if you cut a real Hang Drum in two and bend each half until it's straight, with the Ding and Gu stuck at the top end.

It works very well and feels extremely nice with the super sensitive keys of the Eigenharp. The colored lights are also naturally soothing and it's truly a relaxing experience to play."

Eigenharp Alpha with Slim Phatty experiment

YouTube Uploaded by gbevin on Dec 5, 2011

"While experimenting with upcoming features of EigenD 2.0, I was testing out the new audio input support and came up with this experiment.

I'm playing my Moog Slim Phatty with the Eigenharp Alpha by routing its audio back into EigenD through my Metric Halo ULN-2 audio interface. This allows me to use Audio Units for real-time performance effects through host automation parameters while playing the analogue synth through MIDI at the same time.

The Slim Phatty is full driven with 14-bit MIDI for modulation and volume, modulation being tied to a key's sideways motion, while slight volume changes are tied to pressure. Pitch is, as usual, tied to a key's up and down motion.

The audio units used are Rob Papen's Delay, Distort and the iZotope Ozone limiter. The Eigenharp's breath pipe is tied to the amount of distortion that's applied and the first strip controller is tied to the amount of feedback that is used in the delay. At the same time, the key modulation also changes the filter frequency for the distortion effect.

The sample rate of EigenD an my audio interface is set to 96kHz with only 96 samples as a buffer size. This really captures the nuances of the analogue audio as well as reduces the latency so much that every interaction with the effects feels instant.

For the purists, you can download the original 96kHz file as recorded, without post processing from SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/gbevin/eigenharp-alpha-with-slim-phatty-experiment"

Eigenharp Alpha with Slim Phatty experiment by G.Bevin

Bagpipes with Eigenharp

"More playing with the Eigenharp and the Modular. Same patch as Trumpet & Flute video but now after a couple of tweaks and we are playing bagpipes."

eigenzone.org : Eigenharp Tau + Moog Slim Phatty, performance techniques

YouTube Uploaded by gbevin on Nov 3, 2011

"Since last weekend I've been playing around with my new Moog Slim Phatty since I want to explore the world of analog synthesis (which is new to me).

This video shows two ways to tie the Eigenharp's expression capabilities to the modulation features of the Slim Phatty. The first one uses the breath pipe, similarly to a traditional mod wheel and the second approach uses the sideways inclination of the playing keys to control the modulation amount.

This video demos how this influences your playing."

eigenzone.org : Eigenharp built-in synth experiment

YouTube Uploaded by gbevin on Oct 30, 2011

"This is a quick unfinished experiment with hooking up the internal synth agents of EigenD to create a virtual modular synth. This sound uses two rectangle oscillators with one heavily detuned and one sine oscillator for a little more body. One envelope generator handles the volume of the oscillators and a second one handling the frequency cutoff of a ladder filter into which all oscillators are patched. The key pressure modulates the entire volume of the filter envelope generator. Finally, this is sent into the multi-tap delay agent.

It's worth noting that all these agents are designed for multi-timbral playing and that all expression signals are separate for each key that is played. From the signal coming out of the keyboard all the way through to the ladder filter, all data is separate. After the filter, everything is summed together before going through the delay and the console mixer."

Higher [Eigenharp EigenD Controls Modular]

"Striving for higher resolution electronic instruments to connect the player to the sound the old-fashioned way.

This is a technical demonstration, meaning, I finished the technical coding, hooked it up, patched the simplest thing I could on the modular and started noodling.

The way this works is that since EigenD (eigenharps platform) is now open source, we've (with the help of eigenlabs) been able to crack it open a bit for hacking. We now have an OSC agent which pumps an insane volume of raw data out of the harp ready for some experimental harvesting.

In this demo, I have a MAX patch which sanitizes the data, and makes it expressly fit for translation to control voltage of a modular.

Some data points here. EigenD sends 2000 events per control point per second. Per note there are 3 high res control points per note (pressure, yaw, pitch). So that is 6000 events per sec translated over the wire into voltage. 2 more control points require voltage which are pitch and cv. That means using an audio interface for cv, you need 5 audio outs per level of polyphony. 5 outs for monophonic, 10 outs for duophonic, and up.

Luckily, monophonic is pretty amazing, duophonic is an incredible luxury and 3 levels is showing off.

After I have prototyped this, I could see writing an EigenD agent expressly to do this directly, making the eigenharp modular friendly out of the box.

I however have to mention that this would not be possible without Expert Sleepers Silent Way plugins as the OSC to CV bridge. Nor would it be possible without MAX in this prototype stage."

Moog Animoog overview using the Eigenharp Pico

YouTube Uploaded by gbevin on Oct 17, 2011

"Moog released Animoog today as their first synthesizer on the iPad and I absolutely love it!

This video gives a brief overview of the Animoog's features and also shows how expressive it is when played with an Eigenharp Pico over MIDI using poly-pressure.

The Eigenharp and Animoog seems like a match made in heaven since the Eigenharp is able to send three independent detailed per-note performance data streams and the Animoog is able to react to this on a per-note level. Also, the visualization of the sound on the Animoog is marvelous, it gives a great representation of what your sound is doing.

The iPad is hooked up to my MacBook Pro using USB MIDI from the Alesis iODock, the Eigenharp Pico is also hooked up to the laptop and sends MIDI from the EigenD application to the 'dock' MIDI port. This uses a small MIDI-only Eigenharp Pico setup that loads very quickly and provides 16 MIDI playing keys with poly-pressure and three independent data streams for each key (pressure, left/right, up/down), as well as two 3D controller keys that are somewhat similar to little joysticks and are sending each three independent streams of MIDI CC data also."

Animoog - Moog Music Inc. - iTunes
iPads on eBay

"Pensieri" Gattobus studio session

YouTube Uploaded by gattobus on May 27, 2011

"I've been through a lot of troubles in this last two years...
I've lost someone very important to me... but now I'm here again with my instruments and my music.
Thank you very much to all my Youtube fans who waited patiently for my return.
Gattobus is back in his little studio, finally."

Follow-up to this post. Good you have you back Gattobus. You bring strength to us all.

'What If' - original piano instrumental on Eigenharp Alpha

'What If' - original piano instrumental on Eigenharp Alpha from Geert Bevin on Vimeo.

"eigenzone.org - This is one of the original instrumental piano pieces that I've been composing on the Eigenharp Alpha. I'm still contemplating on adding vocals over it and turning it into a song, but I'm not totally convinced yet.

However, after many months of keeping this under the wraps, I though it was time to record a video with the factory piano sound since I think it's stunningly beautiful and responds wonderfully well to dynamics.

Hope you enjoy it.

I you like this performance, you can download the lossless audio file from SoundCloud for free:
soundcloud.com/​gbevin/​what-if-piano-instrumental"

Strings for Rapture (Ode to the End of the World)

Strings for Rapture (Ode to the End of the World) from bar|none on Vimeo.

"This is a bit of noodling with a KYMA sound designed by Edmund Eagan for the Continuum that I adapted for the Eigenharp.

As you can hear, it has a lot of per note expression. Each key controls, velocity, pitch, timbre (reresonation of the strings), volume. phase, pick sound mix using roll, yaw, pressure, velocity of the keys, each key sending all this information INDEPENDENTLY!

There is a bit of bowed cello added which comes in only when I use the strip controller, everything else is one KYMA sound.

I'd like to extend my appreciation to Geert Bevin who designed the new MIDI configuration options for EigenD and made this connection possible. And of course to Edmund Eagan for this amazing sound, and to Symbolic Sound for KYMA."

CNMAT New Instruments Event, May 6 2011, 1.15 gB.m4v

YouTube Uploaded by rogerlinndesign on May 11, 2011

"'New Musical Instruments' event at UC Berkeley's Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT) on May 6, 2011, showcasing the Eigenharp, LinnStrument and SLABS."

[Re-posted. This one was a casualty of the recent Blogger outage.]

'What If' - original piano instrumental on Eigenharp Alpha

YouTube Uploaded by gbevin on May 16, 2011

"http://eigenzone.org - This is one of the original instrumental piano pieces that I've been composing on the Eigenharp Alpha. I'm still contemplating on adding vocals over it and turning it into a song, but I'm not totally convinced yet.

However, after many months of keeping this under the wraps, I though it was time to record a video with the factory piano sound since I think it's stunningly beautiful and responds wonderfully well to dynamics.

Hope you enjoy it.

I you like this performance, you can download the lossless audio file from SoundCloud for free:
http://soundcloud.com/gbevin/what-if-piano-instrumental"

Radical New Musical Instruments @ SF MusicTech Summit 2011 (first 34 mins)

YouTube Uploaded by gbevin on May 10, 2011

"Our panel at SF MusicTech Summit 2011. Sadly these are only the first 34 minutes since my SD card was full after that.

We ~ Roger Linn, Ed Goldfarb and Geert Bevin ~ presented the LinnStrument, the Continuum and the Eigenharp. We demonstrated that we're now at a tipping point where electronic musical instruments are every bit as expressive as traditional instruments.

After that we go into an interesting discussion and debate about the subject with audience Q&A."

Roger Linn Hosts New Musical Instruments Event at CCRMA - Eigenharp, Continuum and LinnStrument

YouTube Uploaded by SynthMeTV on May 5, 2011

"Roger Linn Hosts New Musical Instruments Event at CCRMA, Stanford University's Center for Computer Research in Music and Audio (CCRMA). At this event held on May 5, 2011. The Eigenharp was demonstrated by Geert Bevin, Senior Software Developer from UK-based Eigenlabs. The Continuum from Haken Audio, was demonstrated by Bay area pianist Ed Goldfarb. Roger Linn lead the discussion and demonstrated the LinnStrument prototype. Watch the whole event in video below. More news can be found at http://synth.me"

Philip Glass' Koyaanisqatsi on Eigenharp Alpha

YouTube Uploaded by gbevin on May 3, 2011

"http://www.eigenzone.org/events - I've prepared a reinterpretation of Koyaanisqatsi for our San Francisco Eigenharp tour from May 5-10.

Koyaanisqatsi holds a special place in my heart, it's one of those musical pieces that never leaves you, it stays deep inside you with all its beauty and nakedness, forever. My father introduced me to it when I was a little kid, it's a real shame he passed away before I was able to play it for him myself. He would have loved it. Nonetheless, this is dedicated to him.

I think I managed to capture the essence of Koyaanisqatsi, let me know what you think of it.

I you like this performance, you can download the lossless audio file from SoundCloud for free: http://soundcloud.com/gbevin/koyaanisqatsi

For those interested in the technical parts:

Everything is played on the Eigenharp Alpha and recorded straight from the audio interface output without any mixing and just a little bit of mastering. I'm using the SonicCouture's Glass / Works instrument in a four-part multi-timbral setup in Native Instruments Kontakt. Each key individually controls pitch, velocity and the resonance of the convolution filter cut-off frequency (which creates a faint scraping-like sound).

The vocals are done through the DPA microphone that's clipped onto the breath pipe and plugged into the Eigenharp Alpha. It uses the built-in Eigenharp Alpha pre-amp and is routed through a series of Audio Unit effects in EigenD for pitch shifting, stereo spreading, EQ and compression. I'm monitoring directly from the headphone output of the Eigenharp Alpha with my Etymotic ER-4P earphones.

The single instrument cables carries all the information, data and audio, in both directions."

TITOTIS VIDEO PROMO

YouTube Uploaded by PassoseCompassos on Sep 29, 2010

Roger Linn Events Featuring Eigenharp, Haken & SLABS

This in via Eigenharp:

"I'm writing to let you know about four events We will be attending in the San Francisco area from May 5th through 9th, Hosted by Roger Linn of Linn drum fame. We will be presenting the Eigenharps along with other revolutionary electronic instruments:

1) The Eigenharp, demonstrated by Geert Bevin, Senior Software Developer from UK-based Eigenlabs.


2) The Continuum from Haken Audio, demonstrated by bay area pianist Ed Goldfarb.


3) SLABS, a new instrument designed by David Wessel, director of Cal Berkeley's CNMAT computer music department.


4) The LinnStrument prototype by Roger Linn [see this video presentation of Roger Linn and this post announcing the Linnstrument back on May 15 of 2010.]

One thing that makes these instruments so uniquely expressive is their ability to sense the precise movements of each finger in 3-dimensional space (for example, pressure for note expression, left/right for pitch, and forward/backward for timbre), and to do that for all fingers simultaneously. But each instrument also presents many other innovative ideas and improvements over the limitations of traditional mechanical-age instruments.

Here are the events:
Thursday, May 5 from 7 to 9 p.m.
Stanford University's Center for Computer Research in Music and Audio (CCRMA)
660 Lomita Dr. Stanford, CA 94305
Directions: https://ccrma.stanford.edu/about/directions
At this event, the Eigenharp, Continuum and LinnStrument will be demonstrated and discussed.

Friday, May 6 from 7 to 9 p.m.
University of California Berkeley's Center For New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT)
1750 Arch Street, Berkeley, CA 94709
http://cnmat.berkeley.edu/
At this event, the Eigenharp. SLABS and LinnStrument will be demonstrated and discussed.

Saturday, May 7 from 2 to 4 p.m.
Guitar Center San Francisco, Pro Audio Department
1645 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94109
At this event, the Eigenharp and LinnStrument will be demonstrated and discussed.

Monday, May 9 from 4:45 to 5:45 p.m.
SF Music Tech Conference
Hotel Kabuki, 1625 Post Street, San Francisco, CA 94115
At this event, the Eigenharp, Continuum and LinnStrument will be demonstrated and discussed.
Note: Conference entry fee is required--see www.sfmusictech.com

Please join us to see, learn about--and even try out for yourself--these radical new instruments that are changing the way music is made. Please note that these instruments are not otherwise available in the bay area to see or try out."