NIME 2014 (New Interfaces for Musical Expression)

Rasper: a Mechatronic Noise-Intoner
Mo Zareei, Ajay Kapur, Dale A. Carnegie
Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand School of Music, , Victoria University of Wellington, School of Engineering and Computer Science

Long Paper

Over the past few decades, there has been an increasing number of musical instruments and works of sound art that incorporate robotics and mechatronics. This paper proposes a new approach in classification of such works and focuses on those whose ideological roots can be sought in Luigi Russolo’s noise-intoners (intonarumori). It presents a discussion on works in which mechatronics is used to investigate new––and traditionally perceived as “extra-musical”––sonic territories, and introduces Rasper: a new mechatronic noise-intoner that features an electromechanical apparatus to create noise physically, while regulating it rhythmically and timbrally.