PushPull: Make yourself a radical electro-accordion
PushPull electro squeezebox · Source: http://tai-studio.org/portfolio/pushPull.html
PushPull electro squeezebox · Source: http://tai-studio.org/portfolio/pushPull.html
A squeezebox combined with inertial sensors and microphones to create an uniquely expressive and physical electronic instrument. The PushPull was designed as part of a 3DMIN project to encourage the development of new musical instruments. Rather than pursue it as a product, the designers Amelie Hinrichsen, Till Bovermann and Dominik Hildebrand Marques Lopes have made all the details, software and material lists open source on Github.
PushPull
There have been electronic and MIDI accordions before but nothing that has quite captured the essence of a bellows. Rather than translating notes into MIDI they use the breath as part of the sound. Two microphones process the sound within the bellows. On the outside there are capacitive strips, some buttons and knobs for sound sculpting, bending and shaping. Use them to trigger changes or switch between synthesis engines. The designers describe it as:
Its current collection of implemented playing modes ranges from melodic sounds to complex feedback structures played with metacontrol strategies.
The physicality of it is amazing to my jaded, MIDI controller eyes. The resistance of the air allows for a degree of control that’s largely absent so many futuristic and virtual style interfaces that seem to be so on trend.
Open Source
Releasing the project as open source is an awesome thing, but looking through the material list is enough to put anyone but the most enthusiastic off the idea. It’s a serious business involving laser cutting, 3D printing and PCB construction that’s not the sort of things you’d have knocking about in your shed. I would have perhaps preferred a Kickstarter campaign where someone takes it on as a product and lets the rest of us invest in it. Maybe that could still happen.
The video below is a demonstration of the sort of soundscapes that the PushPull could produce in performance. The colour, movement, sound and performance of the instrument make it quite magical.
More information can be found on the Github website.
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One response to “PushPull: Make yourself a radical electro-accordion”
Damn, wanted this until I realised you have to make it yourself!