Audiopad

July 22, 2003 4:54 AM

Audiopad is a composition and performance instrument for electronic music which tracks the positions of objects on a tabletop surface and converts their motion into music. More info here. [.pdf]
posted by soundofsuburbia (6 comments total)

...via a friend who found out about it at Slashdot.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 5:04 AM on July 22, 2003

I was going to post about this, but every time I thought about it I was busy and put it off... this thing is so amazing.. I can't imagine how cool it would be to play with one.. I only hope I can afford one some day... This, along with Final Scratch are in my opinion the two greatest innovations in electronic music in recent time...
posted by twiggy at 6:57 AM on July 22, 2003

I don't see why they couldn't implement this in Flash so that we could all try it. It would take a little work, but it would be sooooo cool. The only thing you'd lose, as I understand it, would be the ability to simultaneously move two parameters, but apparently that's not a big part of the concept anyway.

At any rate, soundof, this is good. Anything that frees music-makers from our 17th-century notation system and 18th-century instruments is a plus in my book.
posted by soyjoy at 8:13 AM on July 22, 2003

This is utterly cool. If they could find a way of packaging it better (table as a display for the graphics rather than projecting them onto the table.) This thing would sell like hotcakes.

I'm itching to play with one.
posted by KnitWit at 9:09 AM on July 22, 2003

more audio related fpp please!
posted by Satapher at 11:29 AM on July 22, 2003

I saw these guys play a set using Audiopad at a bar in Cambridge. Unlike anything I've ever seen before. Incredible.
posted by ben-o at 4:21 PM on July 22, 2003