Place/Dates: IEM Graz, 8 October – 6 November, 2010

Description:

Robotic Network Concert

Peter Ablinger – Piano Skype

“Piano Skype” is an “audiosophic” play for 3 computer controlled pianos and 3 speakers in 3 different cities using 3 different languages. Based on the transcription software of voices to piano 3 texts for actors to perform the piece were written.

“IAPIONR” (“I am playing a piano in one netroom”) by Winfried Ritsch, is a hommage to Alvin Lucier, a robotic network experiment with three robotic piano-players. It arose out of the workshop “social machines” (robotics workshop Medienkunstlabor Kunsthaus Graz 2009 done during CO-ME-DI-A). Each 30 seconds one room is streaming via audio and video the player piano to the next room, which is recording the audio, transcribe it to piano-notes and play them back the next 30 seconds and so on until the resonances of all  rooms are played by the pianos.

Objective:

Within a residency of the artist Peter Ablinger, pieces for networked robotic piano players, which are controlled by audio and video data streamed over network, were developed. Therefore the composer Peter Ablinger was invited to compose a piece for this situation. He has written a kind of “partitura” and text for performing the piece.

In parallel, a network experiment arose from an idea from the robotics workshop and was also been realized. Three piano-playing robots were sent to three different cities with operators to setup the piece over network.

Results:

A new piece from Peter Ablinger.

A concert/installation within the artistic showcase has been performed and the idea of robotics networks has been distributed and elaborated.

Concert at CUBE IEM/Belfast SARC/Hamburg HFMT and flyer (100).

Target group:

Public, Technicians, musicians and visitors.

Number of participants/visitors/audience :

Concert and rehearsals: 1 composer, 3 instrumentalists, 3 robotic piano players, with 200 visitors at IEM Cube and more (hard to estimate exact number) in other cities.