An instrument played in the space around it
Dodecaudion changes where the performance happens. Instead of pressing a key on the surface, the performer moves hands around a suspended, many-sided object. The shell marks out several zones in the air that the performer learns to navigate.
PL PolandIn practice. A Polish audiovisual instrument translates movements around its shell into control signals.
What to keep in view
panGenerator documents this as a 2011 project with later performances. Check the project archive for its technical setup.
Sensing a gesture
Infrared distance sensors supply signals that the system maps to sound and image. There is no physical resistance to tell a hand where it is, so timing and distance become part of the playing technique. A demonstration of the instrument makes that learning curve visible.
Read next.
Music made by moving objects on a table.
Compare what a performer does around a sensor with what they do on a tangible tabletop controller.
A synthesiser played through a grid of touch
Plinky uses touch positions on a fixed surface and gives the fingers a different kind of reference.