Absolut Quartet / Jeff Lieberman, Dan Paluska (both US)
“Absolut Quartet” was inspired by the tradition of musical automatons. This six-meter-long installation made a name for itself with an appearance in a commercial for Absolut Vodka. “Absolut Quartet” consists of three robotic musical instruments; completing the foursome is an installation visitor, who prescribes the musical motif. Software developed in collaboration with composers uses this sequence as a point of departure for the computation of a three-minute piece. Here, the user-input sounds don’t serve as a melody; instead, they’re interpreted as a set of rules. Finally, the piece is performed by a robot orchestra. A marimba is played by firing balls with incredible accuracy from several meters away at the instrument’s five-centimeter-wide wooden bars; 42 robot arms and a hundred rubber balls keep the sounds coming. Harmonies are provided by a wineglass organ whose 35 hand-made glasses are played by high-tech robot fingers covered by rawhide tips soaked in a special solution that displays the same properties as water but doesn’t evaporate.
credit: Volkswagen AG, Tomas Adel
Absolut Quartet / Jeff Lieberman, Dan Paluska (both US)
“Absolut Quartet” was inspired by the tradition of musical automatons. This six-meter-long installation made a name for itself with an appearance in a commercial for Absolut Vodka. “Absolut Quartet” consists of three robotic musical instruments; completing the foursome is an installation visitor, who prescribes the musical motif. Software developed in collaboration with composers uses this sequence as a point of departure for the computation of a three-minute piece. Here, the user-input sounds don’t serve as a melody; instead, they’re interpreted as a set of rules. Finally, the piece is performed by a robot orchestra. A marimba is played by firing balls with incredible accuracy from several meters away at the instrument’s five-centimeter-wide wooden bars; 42 robot arms and a hundred rubber balls keep the sounds coming. Harmonies are provided by a wineglass organ whose 35 hand-made glasses are played by high-tech robot fingers covered by rawhide tips soaked in a special solution that displays the same properties as water but doesn’t evaporate.
credit: Volkswagen AG, Tomas Adel