Hostname: page-component-6bf8c574d5-956mj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-20T15:12:39.240Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Physical Intentions: Exploring Michel Waisvisz’s The Hands (Movement 1)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 November 2017

Jon Bellona
Jon Bellona*
Affiliation:
University of Virginia, 112 Old Cabell Hall, PO Box 400176, Charlottesville, Virginia, 22903, USA
*
Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Through a musical examination of The Hands (Movement 1) (1986), this article reveals musical developments of Michel Waisvisz’s early performance practice with The Hands. Waisvisz’s digital musical instrument, The Hands, helped shape the body as a recognisable agent of musical structure; this article details how the instrument controls relate to musical gesture and reveals the physical efforts of the composer through spectral analyses of the sound recording and an investigation of a 1987 performance video. The rich context of The Hands – the instrument controls, Waisvisz’s decades-long dedication to the instrument’s potential and, more centrally, the exploration of human effort in performance – have made this pioneering live-performance system for electronic music stand for more than just a musical instrument. Many authors cite Michel Waisvisz’s Hands technology but few provide musical analyses of Waisvisz’s music. The musical analysis of The Hands (Movement 1) (1986) highlights the art practice of a seminal composer–performer through one of his most important digital musical instruments and signals how the body became an instrument for playing digital electronic music.

Type
Articles
Information
Organised Sound , Volume 22 , Special Issue 3: Which Words Can We Use Related to Sound and Music? , December 2017 , pp. 406 - 417
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Birnbaum, D., Fiebrink, R., Malloch, J. and Wanderley, M. 2005. Towards a Dimension Space for Musical Devices. Proceedings of the 2005 New Interfaces for Musical Expression Conference. Vancouver, BC, Canada: NIME.Google Scholar
Bongers, B. 2007. Electronic Musical Instruments: Experiences of a New Luthier. Leonardo Music Journal 17: 9–16.Google Scholar
Blum, T. 1989. Concerts at the 1988 International Computer Music Conference, Cologne, September 1988. Computer Music Journal 13(2): 86–90.Google Scholar
Brent, W. 2011. TimbreID. https://puredata.info/downloads/timbreid (accessed 27 April 2015).Google Scholar
Couprie, P. 2014. EAnalysis. http://logiciels.pierrecouprie.fr/?page_id=402 (accessed 7 October 2014).Google Scholar
Dykstra-Erickson, E. and Arnowitz, J. 2005. Michel Waisvisz: The Man and the Hands. Interactions 12(5): 63–67.Google Scholar
Ferguson, J. R. 2016. Michel Waisvisz: No Backup/Hyper Instruments. In S. Emmerson and L. Landy (eds.) Expanding the Horizon of Electroacoustic Music Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Honing, H. 1987. A Reaction to the Report on the Second STEIM Symposium. Computer Music Journal 11(1): 14.Google Scholar
Keane, D. 1986. The 1985 Bourges Festival: A Report. Computer Music Journal 10(2): 56–68.Google Scholar
Kendall, G., Ashley, R., Barrière, J., Dannenberg, R., Moore, F., Risset, J., et al. 1987. Essays on the 1986 International Computer Music Conference. Computer Music Journal 11(2): 35–48.Google Scholar
Korg 1985. Korg Electronic Musical Instruments, vol. 12. http://brochures.yokochou.com/keyboard-and-effector/korg/1985/en_index.html (accessed 2 August 2016).Google Scholar
Krefeld, V. and Waisvisz, M. 1990. The Hand in the Web: An Interview with Michel Waisvisz. Computer Music Journal 14(2): 28–33.Google Scholar
Lehrman, P. 1986. Interview with Michel Waisvisz. Keyboard 12(8): 21–22.Google Scholar
Otto, A. 2008. Die Entwicklung elektronischer Musikinstrumente am STEIM (Studio für elektro-instrumentale Musik) in Amsterdam seit 1969. Master’s thesis, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg.Google Scholar
Puckette, M., Zicarelli, D., Sussman, R., Clayton, J. K., Bernstein, J., Place, T., et al. 1990. Max. Version 6.1.7. Cycling ’74, 2013. https://cycling74.com/downloads/older (accessed 1 May 2016).Google Scholar
Roads, C. 1986. Second STEIM Symposium Review. Computer Music Journal 10(2): 44–50.Google Scholar
Roland. 1984. Roland Keyboard/Amp Catalog, vol. 7. http://brochures.yokochou.com/keyboard-and-effector/roland/1984/en_index.html (accessed 2 August 2016).Google Scholar
Rowe, R. 1990. New Computer Music by Barlow; Dashow; Kaske; Lansky; Roads; Waisvisz. Computer Music Journal 14(3): 83–84.Google Scholar
Rubine, D. and McAvinney, P. 1990. Finger-Tracking Instrument Controllers. Computer Music Journal 14(1): 26–41.Google Scholar
Rubinstein, M. 2016. Phone interview with author. 7 December.Google Scholar
Salazar Sutil, N. 2015. Motion and Representation: The Language of Human Movement. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Sonami, L. 2016. Lecture 9, The Instrument: Evolution. In Session 7: Developing a Practice with Machine Learning. In R. Fiebrink (ed.) Machine Learning for Musician’s and Artists. www.kadenze.com/courses/machine-learning-for-musicians-and-artists-i/sessions/developing-a-practice-with-machine-learning-wrap-up (accessed 29 May 2016).Google Scholar
STEIM. 1987. Touch Monkeys. Video document. Art Rock Festival. Frankfurt, Germany. Michel Waisvisz Archive.Google Scholar
STEIM. 2008a. Text and Image Archive for Michel Waisvisz. www.crackle.org/index.php (accessed 2 April 2015).Google Scholar
STEIM. 2008b. The Hands (first version) 1984–1989. www.crackle.org/The%20Hands%201984.htm (accessed 2 April 2015).Google Scholar
Torre, G., Andersen, K. and Baldé, F. 2016. The Hands: The Making of a Digital Musical Instrument. Computer Music Journal 40(2): 22–34.Google Scholar
Vasulka. 1986. Hands Concert Program and Technical Data Sheet. In ExhFest11. The Vasulka Archive. www.vasulka.org/archive/ExhFest11/STEIM/general.pdf (accessed 7 December 2015). Used with permission from Steina Vasulka and STEIM.Google Scholar
Waisvisz, M. 1985. The Hands: A Set of Remote MIDI-Controllers. Proceedings of the 1985 International Computer Music Conference. Simon Frasier University, Canada: ICMA.Google Scholar
Waisvisz, M. 1999. Riding the Sphinx–Lines about ‘Live’. Contemporary Music Review 18(3): 119–126.Google Scholar
Waisvisz, M. 2000. Round Table: Electronic Controllers in Music Performance and Composition. In M. M. Wanderley and M. Battier (eds.) Trends in Gestural Control of Music. Paris: IRCAM, Centre Pompidou.Google Scholar
Yamaha 1985. Combo Keyboard: Yamaha LM Instruments. http://brochures.yokochou.com/keyboard-and-effector/yamaha/1985/en_index.html (accessed 2 August 2016).Google Scholar

Discography

Waisvisz, M. 1987. The Hands (Movement 1) (1986). On New Computer Music. Mainz, West Germany: Wergo, WER 2010-50.Google Scholar