Thursday (12/3) on the blog 9 to 5 Mac, Jonny Evans writes, “Given that the iPhone offers more processing power than the original iMac, this next story had to happen: December 9 will see a live performance by an orchestra, each and every one of whom will be using an iPhone to make the music happen. Students at the University of Michigan are learning to design, build and play instruments on their Apple smartphones as part of a course called ‘Building a Mobile Phone Ensemble’. This course is taught by Georg Essl, a computer scientist and musician who has worked on developing mobile phones and musical instruments. … Students in the class program their iPhones to accept input from the devices’ multitude of input sensors, and to create sound based on that input. The touch-screen, microphone, GPS, compass, wireless sensor, and accelerometer can all be transformed so that when a performer runs their finger across the display, blows air into the mic, tilts or shakes the phone, for example, different sounds emanate. Students then compose for these new instruments and ultimately perform their works.”
Posted December 3, 2009
