Ben S. Jacob - Composer Etc.

This work was composed to demonstrate the sonic and musical capabilities of the HyperAeolian Harp, a data-driven instrument comprised of a Gametrak dual motion sensor, two Nintendo Wiimote controllers, and Max interactive audio processing software.  The goal in designing this instrument was to provide sonic expression to a diverse vocabulary of gestures and motions that I absorbed through personal experience in Indonesian classical dance as well as American dance traditions such as popping and locking; through study and teaching of such martial and movement arts practices as taijiquan, qigong, and kungfu; and, naturally, through the study and practice of conducting music.

The Gametrak provides two three-dimensional motion sensors that are attached to the hands by strings, and the Wiimote controllers provide orientational information independent of their locations in space; in other words, the two Gametrack sensors detect location in space, and the Wiimotes detect the "tilt" or direction in which the controllers are pointing.  The Max software is programmed to translate this information into various sonic elements, such as volume, timbre, and perceived location of the sound sources in the two-dimensional immersive sound field provided by a "surround sound" quadrophonic speaker arrangement.  The numerous buttons available on the Wiimotes have also been programmed to allow the performer to switch between various sonic capabilities during performance and thus provide a wider array of sound-sculpting possibilities.  The accelerometers built into the Wiimotes measure the rate of change in the spatial orientation of the controllers and add further interactive capability through measurement of sudden changes in the controllers' orientations in space.

The Hyperaeolian Harp is so named in reference to both the legendary instrument with origins in the ancient past as well to the modal nomenclature of European sacred music in the Middle Ages, and the title of this work refers to an expression that circulated among my taijiquan community in reference to the unstoppable nature of aerodynamic motion.​

Please note that the following video's representation of the sound of this composition and this instrument are limited to a basic 2-channel left-right stereo audio signal and therefore does not provide the full listening experience that the 4-channel surround sound that the audience experienced at the performance.

For best representation of the audio frequency spectrum that is available in the following video, use stereo/2-channel/left-right headphones or loudspeakers that provide representation of the low frequencies included in this experience.