Cello Fortress By Joost van Dongen

January 16, 2013 10:55 PM

Cello Fortress is a unique combination of a game and a live music performance. A cellist defends a fortress by improvising on his cello. Melodies control the guns, dissonant notes activate the flamethrowers. Players from the audience use game controllers to steer their tanks and attack the fortress. The cellist plays live music, while at the same time controlling the game to be a fun challenge for the players. Cello Fortress is an innovative experiment that blends concert and game.
posted by boo_radley (4 comments total)

And I thought Steel Battalion had an expensive controller....
posted by cthuljew at 10:59 PM on January 16, 2013 [6 favorites]

Was anyone else let down to discover that this was a video game and not some sort of SRL thing with people controlling real robot tanks in an arena and the cellist controlling real flamethrowers? Don't get me wrong, this is neat and all, but that's the clear next step.
posted by brundlefly at 2:15 AM on January 17, 2013 [4 favorites]

Tangentially related, in Chicago there recently was a performance by a cellist playing a "duet" with her own amplified/computerized brainwaves. It's interesting because the brainwaves are triggered by her reactions to words she reads like "violence" while playing very calm, minimally contemplative melodies.

There's a similar cognitive dissonance here between the gentle melody and the firing of guns etc.
posted by daisystomper at 10:05 AM on January 17, 2013

Another similar project is Drum Cannonry. It seems like now the download links for the game have been pulled unfortunately.

Also of interest is infinite music which comes to the conclusion that the best ways of generating alien genres of music is by creating games which redefine the act of playing.
posted by jonbro at 1:58 AM on January 18, 2013