Fi e Robo s Playing Pen a onic, Poly hy hmic Songs
CHRISTIAN FAUBEL, Technische Hochschule Köln, Ge many
Addi ional Key Wo ds and Ph ases: Robo ics, Poly hy hm, Analogue Compu a ion, Neu omo ph Ha dwa e, Sound Ins alla ion
ACM Re e ence Fo ma :
1 PROGRAM NOTES
Fi e obo s playing i e uned bells by s iking hem wi h a malle . Each obo is con olled by a minimalis , neu ally
inspi ed analogue oscilla o . These oscilla o s a e mu ually connec ed and connec ed o a pacemake oscilla o , h ough
ne wo k connec i i y, hey will synch onize a di e en a ios wi h he pacemake . Slow- unning analog oscilla o s o
he same ype swi ch on and o he connec i i y and modula e he ac i a ion o he obo s’ oscilla o s. Only h ough
hese changing ne wo k con igu a ions eme ges a musical sco e ha al e na es be ween coo dina ed poly hy hms,
andom s uc u e and momen s o silence. The complex in e ac ion be ween he analogue oscilla o s is isualized wi h
a compu e p og am ha g aphically displays he changing ela ions o he oscilla o s as mul iple x-y plo s.
2 PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The i s documen ed obo s and ea ly au oma a we e mos ly sel -playing music machines [
1
,
4
]. Th ough complex
mechanical clockwo ks, gea s in e locking in o each o he , hese au oma a d o e malle s hi ing on bells o hi ing on
uning o ks [
2
]. La e e sions o musical au oma a encoded sequences o no es o be played on o a ing cylinde s,
discs o punch ca ds. F om ha pe spec i e, ea ly musical au oma a may be conside ed p edecesso s o algo i hmic
compu a ion. The i e obo s a e in his adi ion, bu unlike hei mechanical and mechanis ic p edecesso s, hey a e
no bound by he igidi y o mechanical connec ions. They a e no bound by he igidi y o digi al p og amming ei he ;
unlike he mechanis ic and de e minis ic execu ion o sc ip ed p og ams, hese obo s a e con olled by a lexible and
elas ic ne wo k o neu ally inspi ed analogue oscilla o s. These neu omo ph oscilla o s p o ide he signals o d i e
gea box mo o s equipped wi h malle s ha hi on uned RIN-bells (see Figu e 4). 1
Each oscilla o by i sel p oduces a bea , and he bea equency o each oscilla o is se by adjus ing a a iable
esis o o a capaci o - esis o pai . Rhy hmic s uc u es a ise when hese i e oscilla o s a e coupled wi h a ne wo k o
a iable esis o s. In mechanical o digi al se ups, hese s uc u es would be ha d-coded in o he a io o di e en gea s
o in o he sequencing o a digi al p og am. In he ins alla ion a ia ions a e ealized by ha ing oscilla o s in e ac
a di e en imescales: hose a slowe imescales modula e he connec i i y o as e oscilla o s. How such ne wo k
connec i i y o simple neu ally inspi ed oscilla o s can be used o c ea e poly hy hmic s uc u es is explained in de ail
in a p e ious pape [
3
]. He e, exac ly he same ne wo k opology is used: a cen al pacemaking oscilla o connec s o
1The RIN-bells a e manu ac u ed by he Japanese ins umen make , O suka Fac o y.
Licensed unde a C ea i e Commons A ibu ion 4.0 In e na ional License (CC BY 4.0). Copy igh emains wi h he au ho (s).
Ch is ian Faubel. 2024. Fi e Robo s Playing Pen a onic, Poly hy hmic Songs. 1, 1 (Sep embe 2024), 5 pages.
Music P oceedings o he In e na ional Con e ence on New In e aces o Musical Exp ession
NIMEâĂŹ24, 4–6 Sep embe , 2024, U ech , The Ne he lands
2 Ch is ian Faubel
Fig. 1. One o he i e obo s and an oscilla o ci cui o hi ing on a uned bell.
he i e oscilla o s, which a e all se o di e en equencies, bu which ma ch up a di e en ac ions o he pacemake ,
when connec ed. The pacemake is se o an app oxima e equency o 240 bea s pe minu e (bpm), he i s obo is se
o a equency o 120 bpm, a ac ion o wo, he second obo is se o 80 bpm, a ac ion o 3, he hi d is se o 60
bpm a ac ion o 4, he o h o 40 bpm, a ac ion o 6 and he i h o 30 bpm a ac ion o 8. All se ings a e only
app oxima e, bu when he oscilla o s a e connec ed hey will go in sync wi h he pacemake a he ma ching a io,
e ec i ely c ea ing he poly hy hm 2-3-4-6-8.
The decision o ealize his ins alla ion wi h RIN-Bells came om a se endipi ous encoun e , by chance I go o know
he p oduce o he RIN-Bells, who is he di ec o o a La he-Company based in he no h o Tokyo. Fo showcasing
hei abili y o high p ecision la he- ooling, hey c ea ed he RIN-Bells wi h he aim o c ea e a e y long-las ing
uned one. When he p esen ed me he bells, I knew I wan ed o make an ins alla ion using my obo ic se up. He i s
bo owed and la e p esen ed me a se o bells. In he p ocess o de eloping he ins alla ion, he RIN-Bells shaped all my
aes he ic decisions. While I usually c ea e wo ks ha a e agile, inke ed and ha ea u e a do-i -you sel app oach,
he bells pushed me in o ano he di ec ion. I chose o use black MDF as suppo ma e ial and also used b ass o he
mo o -holde s and malle s.
The ins alla ion is an adap ion and con inua ion o a wo k en i led ne wo k e ec ha has been shown as pa o
he sound a exhibi ion “on ai sound as ma e ial – ma e ial as sound” a he A Museum K e eld (see Figu e 2). The
ins alla ion ea u ed eigh uned bells and a able whe e isi o s could in e ac wi h he ins alla ion by modi ying
he ne wo k s uc u e. I also ea u ed a wo d awing machines and a p ojec ion isualizing he e ec s o ne wo k
connec i i y.
Fi e Robo s Playing Pen a onic, Poly hy hmic Songs 3
Fig. 2. ins alla ion iew om he p e ious exhibi ion “ne wo k e ec ” a he A Museum K e eld.
Fo NIME I will b ing a a ian ha will un ully au onomously wi hou use in e ac ions. Ins ead o isi o s
manipula ing he ne wo k con igu a ion, he ins alla ion will modi y i s own ne wo k s uc u e by swi ching on and o
small elays, ha a e ei he conduc ing o no , hus allowing he ins alla ion o go om a mode o connec i i y whe e
poly hy hmic s uc u es eme ge in o a mode o disconnec whe e each obo is jus ollowing i s own egime. This
appea ance o s uc u e as an e ec o ne wo k connec i i y will be made isible h ough a p ojec ion o he mu ual
ela ions o oscilla o s d i ing he i e obo s (see Figu e 3). In addi ion o he connec i i y, slow- unning oscilla o s
also modula e he ac i a ion o indi idual oscilla o s. A sub le in luence modi ies he ac i a ion o he oscilla o ; he
obo keeps on mo ing bu , unde ha in luence, does no mo e i s malle a enough o s ike he bell. As a ma e o
ac , sequences o silence a e in oduced, ye he e is ne e a s ands ill bu always mo emen wi hin he ins alla ion,
jus pe iods wi hou bells being s oked. The se up o he ins alla ion o NIME will be si e-speci ic; he obo s may be
placed on one o mo e ables ins ead o pedes als. The oscilla o s o modula e ac i a ions and ne wo k connec i i y will
no be moun ed on a able as in he p e ious ins alla ion, bu ins ead hey will be moun ed in o an eu o ack case o
modula syn hesize s.
3 PERFORMANCE NOTES
The se up o he ins alla ion is qui e lexible, he obo s can be moun ed on pedes als o on ables. The cen al pacemake
and he modula ing oscilla o s will be moun ed in o a modula syn hesize eu o ack ha can be placed on a able.
Fo connec ing all he cables, I will need one day on si e, i possible. I can add a mo ion-de ec ion senso , so ha he
ins alla ion only u n ac i e when isi o s a e p esen . Ideally, i should be ins alled in a sepa a e oom. A p ojec o and
a sc een o p ojec on (can be a whi e wall) should be p o ided.
4 Ch is ian Faubel
Fig. 3. Pho o o he p ojec ion o he x-y plo s o mul iple oscilla o s
4 MEDIA LINKS
•Video: h ps:// imeo.com/912950719
•Audio: h ps:// anuki unes.com/lib a y/ acks/124672/
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The au ho 2 would like o hank Thomas Janzen and he Kaise -Wilhem-Museum K e eld o p oducing he ins alla ion
ne wo k e ec .
This wo k was suppo ed by...
REFERENCES
[1] He be B ude e . 2020. His o ical Au oma ons and Robo s. Miles ones in Analog and Digi al Compu ing (2020), 593–735.
[2]
Yu-Hsun Chen, Ma co Cecca elli, and Hong-Sen Yan. 2018. A his o ical s udy and mechanical classi ica ion o ancien music-playing au oma a.
Mechanism and Machine Theo y 121 (2018), 273–285.
[3]
Ch is ian Faubel. 2021. Eme gen Poly hy hmic Pa e ns wi h a Neu omo ph Elec onic Ne wo k. In NIME 2021.
h ps://nime.pubpub.o g/pub/g04egsqn.
[4]
Elizabe h S ephens and Ta a He e nan. 2016. We ha e always been obo s: The his o y o obo s and a . Robo s and a : Explo ing an unlikely
symbiosis (2016), 29–45.
Fi e Robo s Playing Pen a onic, Poly hy hmic Songs 5
Fig. 4. links o online media, a ideo and a example eco ding o he sound o he ins alla ion: h ps:// imeo.com/945804194 h ps:
// anuki unes.com/lib a y/ acks/126337/
