Tod Machover

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Tod Machover (1953 –), the son of a pianist and a computer scientist, is a composer and an innovator in the application of technology in music.

He attended the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1971 and received an MA from The Juilliard School in New York where he studied with Elliott Carter and Roger Sessions (1973 – 1978). Invited as Composer-in-Residence to Pierre Boulez's new Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) in 1978, he is named Director of Musical Research in 1980. Joining the faculty at the new Media Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1985, he becomes Professor of Music and Media and Director of the Experimental Media Facility. Currently Professor of Music & Media at the MIT Media Lab, he is head of the Lab's Hyperinstruments/Opera of the Future group and has been Co-Director of the Things That Think (TTT) and Toys of Tomorrow (TOT) consortia since 1995. He is named Visiting Professor of Composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London (2006). He has designed and implemented various interactive systems for performance by Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, the Boston Pops, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Penn & Teller, Peter Gabriel, Prince and many others. Machover gave a keynote lecture at NIME-02 the second international conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression, which was held in 2002 at the former Media Lab Europe in Dublin, Ireland.

Contents

[edit] History

In the fall of 1978, Tod Machover arrives at IRCAM, Paris, and is introduced to Giuseppe di Giugno’s digital synthesizer 4 series. Light premiers at the Metz Festival in November of 1979 using 4C, the brain-child of di Giugno’s concept that “synthesizers should be made for musicians, not for the people that make them.” (Electric Sound, p. 181). In 1981 he composes Fusione Fugace for solo performance on a real-time digital synthesizer, called the 4X machine. At IRCAM 1986 & 1987 he is motivated to score for keyboard and percussion duet with emphasis on extending their performance into many complex sound layers. He composes Valis, again using di Giugno’s 4X system to process voices. This desire to enhance the human performance foreshadows his concept of the hyperinstrument (term coined in 1986). At MIT’s Media Lab, he develops methods for taking many more sophisticated measurements of the instrument as well as the performer’s expression. He directs focus on augmenting keyboard instruments, percussion, strings, even the act of conducting, with the goal of developing and implementing new technology in order to expand the function of the musical instruments and their performers. He propels forward-thinking research in the field of musical performance and interaction using new musical and technological resources. Originally concentrated to the enhancement of virtuosic performance, research has expanded in a direction of building sophisticated interactive musical instruments for non-professional musicians, children, and the general public.

[edit] Hyperinstruments

[edit] Hyperviolin

Basically an electric violin, audio output provides raw material for real-time timbre analysis and synthesis techniques. Coupled with an enhanced bow (see Hyperbow), measured properties of both the audio output of the instrument and the bowing gesture of the player create data which controls aspects of the resulting amplified sound.

[edit] Hypercello

In addition to bow pressure and string contact, wrist measurements and left-hand fingering-position indicators create measurements which are evaluated and processed in response to the performance.

[edit] Hyperbow

Bowing parameters (speed, force, position) are measured and data is processed to create an interaction between performance properties and audio output. Different types or styles of bowing create complex calculations which are conducive to the performance and manipulation of larger structures and compositional shapes.

[edit] Hyperpiano

MIDI data generated by performer on a Yamaha Disklavier is manipulated by various Max/MSP processes as accompaniment and augmentation of keyboard performance.

[edit] Compositions

  • Ye Gentle Birds (1979) for soprano, mezzo-soprano and wind ensemble
  • Fresh Spring (1977) for baritone solo and large chamber ensemble
  • With Dadaji in Paradise (1977-'78, rev. 1983) for solo cello
  • Two Songs (1978) for soprano and chamber ensemble
  • Concerto for Amplified Guitar (1978) for amplified acoustic guitar and large chamber ensemble
  • Deplacements (1979) for amplified guitar and computer-generated tape
  • Light (1979) for chamber orchestra and computer electronics
  • Soft Morning, City! for soprano, double bass, and computer-generated tape
  • Winter Variations (1981) for large chamber ensemble
  • String Quartet No. 1 (1981)
  • Fusione Fugace (1981-'82) for keyboard, two specialized interfaces, and live 4X digital synthesizer
  • Chansons d'Amour (1982) for solo piano Bridge recording
  • Electric Etudes (1983) for amplified cello, live and pre-recorded computer electronics
  • Spectres Parisiens (1983-'84) for flute, horn, cello, chamber orchestra and computer electronics Bridge recording
  • Hidden Sparks (1984) for solo violin Hidden Sparks
  • Famine (1985) for four amplified voices and computer-generated sounds Bridge recording
  • Desires (1985-'89) for symphony orchestra
  • Nature's Breath (1988-'89) for chamber orchestra Bridge recording
  • Towards the Center (1988-'89) for amplified flute, clarinet, violin, cello, electronic keyboard and percussion, with five hyperinstrument electronics Bridge recording
  • Flora (1989) for pre-recorded soprano and computer-generated sound Bridge recording
  • Bug Mudra (1989-'90) for two guitars (electric and amplified-acoustic), electronic percussion, conducting dataglove, and interactive computer electronics Bridge recording
  • Begin Again Again … (1991) for Yo-Yo Ma and hypercello Hyperstring Trilogy
  • "Song of Penance" (1992) for ""hyperviola"" and chamber orchestra Hyperstring Trilogy
  • "Forever and Ever" (1993) for ""hyperviolin"" and orchestra Hyperstring Trilogy
  • Hyperstring Trilogy (1991-'93, rev. 1996-'97) for hypercello, hyperviola, hyperviolin and chamber orchestra Hyperstring Trilogy
  • Bounce (1992) for hyperkeyboards, Yamaha Disklavier Grand piano and interactive computer electronics Bridge recording
  • He's Our Dad (1997) for soprano, keyboard and computer-generated sound
  • Meteor Music (1998) interactive installation Meteorite Museum
  • "Sparkler" (2001) for orchestra and interactive computer electronics Sparkler
  • "Toy Symphony" (2002/3) for ""hyperviolin"", Children's Chorus, Music Toys, and Orchestra Toy Symphony
  • "Mixed Messiah" (2004), a 6-minute remix of Handel's Messiah Mixed Messiah
  • "Sea Soaring" (2005) for flute, electronics, and live audience interaction Music Garden
  • ...but not simpler... (2005) Not Simpler
  • Jeux Deux (2005) for hyperpiano and orchestra Jeux Deux
  • Another Life (2006) for nine instruments and electronics
  • "Death and the Powers" (in progress), an opera with live electronics and robotics Powers
  • "Skellig" (in progress), an opera based on the novel by David Almond

[edit] Operas

  • Valis (1987) (based on Philip K. Dick's novel) Valis
  • Brain Opera (1996), an original, interactive musical experience that included contributions from both on-line participants and live audiences. It toured Europe, Asia, the United States and South America from 1996 to 1998 and was permanently installed at Vienna's House of Music in the spring of 2000. [1]
  • Resurrection (1999) (based on Tolstoy's last novel) [2]

[edit] Awards

  • Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France (1995)
  • DigiGlobe Prize in Interactive Media, Germany (1998)
  • Ray Kurzweil Award of Technology in Music, USA (2003)

[edit] Links

[edit] References

  • Chadabe, Joel (1997). Electric Sound: The Past and Promise of Electronic Music.
  • [Tod] (2004). Shaping Minds Musically.
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