I graduated as a Doctor of Arts from the University of Arts and Design Helsinki, which since changed its name and is today part of Aalto University. My dissertation is in English, and it delves the construction process of the Sormina instrument and reflects also philosophically on the importance of musical instruments in the development of the music culture. Visual artist Jyrki Siukonen was the supervisor and Todd Winkler from Brown University the opponent.
Musical instrument
Sormina is a wireless electronic instrument. It produces music using sound synthesis. Sormina consists of a hand-held user interface that connects wirelessly to audio software running on a computer. The construction of Sormina allows eight parameters to be adjusted at the same time, as a result of which the sound can be controlled precisely and finely.
The wooden keys are made of Finnish birch
Construction
The instrument is operated by rotating the keys. The interactivity is programmed with MAX/MSP, the sound is produced using Reaktor 5. In addition to sound, Sormina produces live video using camera feed and video image processing. The video is produced with Jitter software.
The playing position is shown on this video
Grants
The research was funded by Wihuri fund and Keksintösäätiö.
Performances
I have performed with Sormina on countless occasions, both for seminar and art audiences. In 2008 I presented at the NIME conference in Genoa, New Interfaces for Musical Expression
The instrument building project
The symphony orchestra does not include electronic instruments at all. I thought this situation was due to the fact that electronic instruments do not match acoustic instruments in terms of their properties. The symphony orchestra instuments have hundreds of years of development work behind them. So I wanted to build an instrument as versatile, stable and believable as, for example, traditional string instruments.
There is a video recording in Youtube, made by a member of the public at Genoa conference 2008. It is still availeble in the net. Youtube video
