The Tubedroid, the stars’ bells
Interactive installation / musical instrument.
Tubodroide (Tubedroid) is an interactive installation/musical instrument with twentie-two tuned bronze tubes. It has an experimental interface made of springs.
The system allows visitors and musicians to produce unconventional sounds and melodies, and in this way they can experience experiencing new interactive situations. The sounds of the tubes are tuned using the TET-50 scale, which allows 50 subdivisions of an octave. From there, 22 of these portions were chosen allowing the minimum distinction between one sound and another.
The tuning between the first tube and the last one is understood within an octave of the chromatic western scale, but the division in 22 (instead of the classical one of 12) corresponds to an approximation to the shruti music of India, where each Note is the minimum possible interval to perceive a sound variation.
Technologies:
Several electronic circuits were developed to control the solenoids, which are the devices used to hit the tuned bronze tubes, and to get the data which comes from the experimental playing device. An Arduino microcontroller was used to control the electronic pieces, and a Python application for the MIDI, OSC, recording and playing connection and music.
The music composer Migue Rausch, composed the “Study #1 for Tubedroid or, The Tensions“. He also was an active participant in the discusion about the tuning and ways of playing for the instrument.