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The Glissorgan
The Glissorgan
Created by Carlos Bandera
Email: carlosbandera2025 [at] u.northwestern.edu
COMP_SCI 497 (RTVF 376-0-20): Digital Musical Instrument Design, Spring 2022
Northwestern University
Background:
In my acoustic compositions, I often use extremely slow glissandos to lean into the gravitational pull found in functional music. Something as commonplace as a 4-3 suspension, for me, can be given a whole new breath of life when the suspended note resolves through a super slow gliss – like a half step over the course of a minute. Another way I use glissandos in my music is to create a backdrop that feels as if it is constantly changing.
4-3 Suspension in Slow Motion:
4-3.wavRising Texture (could be the backdrop of a piece for more instruments):
rising texture.wav
The problem that led me to create the Glissorgan is that instruments that are capable of playing slow glissandos all seem to require human interaction to shape the speed and steadiness of the glissando, be it moving a finger along a string, or moving a trombone slide. This is a severe limitation, as human hands can only move so slow!
My dream was to create an instrument that could play a perfectly even glissando, where listeners can really feel every cent of deviation from a note, so we can all enjoy the magic that exists between the keys of a keyboard. It's also a huge plus that I don't have to wait for a whole orchestra to put on a concert in order to write this kind of music!
How does it work?
To play this version of the Glissorgan, just select a voice by pressing either one of the "REC ARM" buttons (which enables the monophonic function) or one of the "MUTE buttons" (which enables the glissando function of that voice) of a single channel on the AKAI Midi Controller. Once either the monophonic or glissando function is selected, you can enter specific notes on the keyboard. The notes will continue until either a new note is entered or the voice is silenced by bringing the slider (which controls the volume) all the way down. Then, after the desired glissandos or sets of notes are entered, go nuts with effects or specific dynamic shapes by using the various knobs and sliders!
One of my favorite aspects of the Glissorgan is that it is completely customizable. I could easily map this same method of interacting with the instrument (selecting a voice, then entering notes) to any keyboard or to any midi controller. For the demos below, I use an AKAI MIDImix midi controller, a Keith McMillen k-board mini keyboard, and a Max MSP patch on my laptop. I think this specific setup demonstrates how easily portable the whole instrument can be.
Demo 1: Glissandos Melting to a Stable Harmony
Glissorgan Demo 1.mp4Demo 2: Improvisation
Glissorgan Demo 2.mp4What's next?
This iteration of the Glissorgan is only the first step. I plan to add an easy way to change the base sound of the instrument to whatever the user wants. Want to select just a specific grain of an audio file? Cool, go for it. Want to use different waveforms? Why not. I personally love sine waves and could listen to them for a ridiculous length of time, but I want the Glissorgan to be able to sound exactly as the user desires.
I also want to make full use of the light up keyboard that I’m currently using with the Glissorgan. What I would love to do is have the last enterend note light up when you select a specific voice. Right now, when you play the instrument you have to remember what each of the 8 voices are doing at any given time, which leads to some inevitable guessing games when you’re deep in an improvisation.
Email: carlosbandera2025 [at] u.northwestern.edu
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