Getting the Hands Dirty

Author(s): John Richards

Source: Leonardo Music Journal, Vol. 18, Why Live? Performance in the Age of Digital
Reproduction (2008), pp. 25-31
Published by: The MIT Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25578112
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Getting the Hands Dirty
John Richards
ABSTRACT

11P

s
VJIetting the hands dirty"
refers to an approach in which
process and performance are
K^^/ince 2003, I have been exploring NIMEthePerformances,
idea of the committee
inseparably bound. The "perfor
mance" begins on the work
"dirty electronics." This idea is more than focused on Do-It-Yourself
just a distinction of (DIY) in
bench and is extended onto
struments. is
an aesthetic opposed to the "clean." Dirty electronics This, in our view,
a meta is a new
the "stage" through live brico
turn for the NIME
phor describing a trend in electronic music. It encompasses a community"lage. [ 1of ].
The idea "dirt" is seen
notion of the postdigital, the self-made and Fordo-it-yourself
the first-generation
in as a critical ingredient
digital mu in the
process of live electronic music,
sician who has
contrast to the mass-produced, and the reinvigoration only known music
of the
and the term "dirty electronics"
role of the human body in the process of making in the
electronic digital domain,
music. is used tothere
describe an increas
Many musicians have started to question the is hegemony
something of exotic
digi in analogue
ing focus in electronic music on
and in
tal technology. This is a view that was reflected self-made electronic shared
the program devices.
experiences face-to-face,
of the 2006 International Conference on New Interfaces
Dedicated for onlineritual,
web sites, forums
gesture, touch, social
interaction and the exploration
Musical Expression (NIME 06): "After makingand,an
in initial
particular,
selec the work ofinstruments.
of devised Ni The
colas Collins,
tion, we sought to identify themes in the works_For have helped rekindle
Monday's author concludes that digital
the interest in DIY and hardware
technology has merely rein
electronics for musiciansforced
[2]. Fur of the
the importance
John Richards (musician/composer, instrument builder), Music, Technology and human body and the physical
Innovation Research Centre, De Montfort University, Leicester, thermore, the
LEI 9BH, U.K. E-mail: term postdigital has
in live performance.
<jrich@dmu.ac.uk>. Web site: <www.jsrichards.com>. come into use to denote a certain

Fig. 1. John Richards, Sudophone with additional controls, 2006. (Photo ?John Richards)
IlIlfllilMW jIW K* :*. ,i. ' h

^^ :jy -p

?2008ISAST LEONAR

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All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^tKKKt^^^^^M^^^^SI^BKK^^Kt^BK^^W^^^ ^^^^^^^^^H Fie. 2. John Richards,
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^HHHI^ShHhHf JF^M" fJil* ^^^^^^^^^^1 cl?c^ as "controller-object"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^KKtK/l^^^^^fm^m^ fit* ,^^^^^^^^^H for prototype breadboard
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H^K^4iaL.^^^^^^^HIIHI
^^^^^HIIHH^^I^^^^HHHHHH^^HIII^^^^^^^HHHBHI^^ ##? i^^^^^^^H (Photo
John Richards)

Zeitgeist in electronic music. It is difficult practice of live electronics. However, appear so when compared to the sterile
to see how "post" is appropriate, given what makes electronics distinctly dirty is world of mass-produced digital technol
that, as Nicholas Negroponte comments, the context. Although dirty electronics ogy. Dirt is not necessarily a bad thing.
"We're not even at digital base camp" [3]. reflects an approach similar to that of Da There are parallels with Henry Cowell's
However, the use of this term does sug vid Tudor, the work of Tudor cannot be re analogy of noise as a germ. Cowell writes:
gest that the honeymoon period of digital garded as dirty. Dirty electronics has to be "Since the 'disease' of noise permeates
technology is over. Replacing it is a new a considered as a reaction to the vestiges all music, the only hopeful course is to
era in which there is a mood of question of the digital world: the virtual, wireless, consider that the noise-germ, like the
ing and reflection in regard to working pseudo-modernist design, utilitarianism bacteria of cheese, is a good microbe,
with digital technology. Jem Finer offers and seemingly endless possibilities. Dirty which may provide previously hidden
a succinct definition of the term post electronics is not born of nostalgia nor delights to the listener, instead of pro
digital "to describe something returning an attempt to re-create the past but is ducing musical oblivion" [5]. Dirt, to con
to a tactile relationship with the materi a way of trying to dislodge the ubiquity tinue with Cowell's analogy, encourages
als, but informed by digital practice" [4]. of digital technology. It also offers an the growth of bacteria and diverse life
alternative to managing digital data and forms.
archiving sound files, an activity that has Aside from the debated difference
Digital Allergy become commonplace amongst many between analogue and digital sound,
The idea of dirty electronics is very much musicians. It is not that DIY electron digital sound often being considered
an extension of and closely allied to the ics are inherently dirty, rather that they "too clean," the designs of Apple's Jona

26 Richards, Getting the Hands Dirty

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than Ive epitomize a "cleanliness." Ive's brand labels, have also become pervasive.
iMac, iBook and iPod have become de The Black Cross This would seem to reflect the need to
sign icons. His use of transparent mate The widespread defacing of comput personalize such utilitarian objects. Kaffe
rial for the iMac was ingenious in that it ers such as the PowerBook, iBook and Matthews, Ryoko Kuwajima and Antye
reflected trends in contemporary design MacBook, particularly among musicians,Greie of the laptop group Lappetites all
and architecture. He also borrowed di shows that there is a will to escape the onedecorate the bodies of their computers
recdy from George Carwardine's modern size-fits-all mentality that currently exists[10]. In Japan, for example, there is also
design icon the Anglepoise lamp in the in multinational companies. Many musia huge subculture of decorating portable
design of the Anglepoise iMac. Ive, in an cians' laptop computers are adorned withcomputers. "Reupholstering" laptops
interview with David Derbyshire, stated a black cross. For example, two pieces of with different materials and patterns,
that his designs are inspired by everyday black gaffer or duct tape in the shape of and painting laptop lids with a traditional
objects around him [6]. Ive summarizes a cross are often used on Apple computYuzen design have become common
his design ethos: "It is very utilitarian. It's ers to prevent the emission of unwanted
place. Leander Kahney in the Cult of the
the use of material in a very minimalist light from the Apple logo on the lid of Mac remarks: "Customizing machines is
way" [7]. Ive also considers the use of the screen during performance. Despite popular in Japan. It is partly driven by the
white plastic an extension of his use of this black cross's practical purpose, it can desire to make mass-produced products
transparent materials [8]. As Derbyshire also be considered symbolic. Performing more personal" [11].
comments: "There are common threads musicians are often keen to obscure the
in Ive's and his team's design. There's a Apple logo simply because they do not
love of white plastic and a hatred of clut Waste Not, Want Not
like corporate branding. Maja Ratkje's
ter. You will be hard pressed to find a vis solo performance at the Sonar Festival,There is more profligacy in consumer
ible screw, or an unnecessary button on 2004, exemplifies the use of the black electronics than ever before. This prof
an Ive-designed product" [9]. Despite the cross. The black cross of tape on a silverligacy is the subject of the Royal Society
"gleaming white" aesthetic of Ive's Apple or white Apple computer is the antithesisof Arts's sculpture WEEE Man [12]. The
products and their mass appeal, there is of Jonathan Ive's designs: black, cheap, sculpture is a humanoid made of 3 tons
a growing trend to seek alternatives to ugly and dirty. of electronic waste, the estimated amount
the iProducts. Stickers and images stuck on the lidsof waste a U.K. resident throws away in a
of laptops, again, predominantly overlifetime. Electronic debris well serves the

Fig. 3. John Richards, Automaticiser, 2006. (Photo ? John Richards)

9Fr> - i^^^^^^^^^l^^^^^^^^HI^^^^^^^^H^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H^^^HHBHI^flHHHHHHHHHH

Richards, Getting the Hands Dirty 27

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 the hands dirty. The sweat and graft that
goes into the preparation of the perfor
mance is visually and sonically manifested
in the devices. The performance rheto
ric begins at this level. It is not only the
construction of the devices that is rhe
torical, but physically transporting and
p "' ' S Fig. 4. Shingo Inao
installing the "performance" at a venue.
^-^^Jlllll^^^^^^^^^^^HIl performing with two In an age of wireless communication and
^P^C^i|!H|^^^H^^HB^^^^B Sudophones after build
^BtMlP ..iilH^^^MH^^^^^gli ing the instruments in nanotechnology, it would seem perverse
|i iiiiliii, ^^HI^^^^Hi^^^^^^l the Dirty Electronics to physically travel long distances with
^- j|||n, ^^^H|^^^^^^^^^^^H|^^I Workshop led by John heavy equipment. Yet there is some kind
HHf^k<a^s>w?_ ^^^K^^^^^^^^^^I^^^H Richards at the Staat of inverse logic at work. Where virtual
H|^Hk 'r^"**<"*? ^^^B ^l|^^H^^H| liche Hochschule fiir
MS?!! - - ^^__^^^^H i^^H!^^^^^HH Gestaltung, Karlsruhe, ly has become part of everyone's lives, it
fv\>.-
i^BBlr i^^H^H JflEl^E^B
1 JB^^^^^Ii^H Germany,
-flHHBi^^^HH (Photo ?June
Shingo2006.
Inao)
is the physical presence of the self-made
devices and performer that also serves as
a rhetorical device in performance.
As with many musicians performing
musician, who through the processes of Tristan Perich's 1-Bit Music [18], and with DIY electronic devices, my instru
bastardization and re-appropriation has Tom Bugs's dirty sampler [19]. Further ment is a modular set-up that sits on a
a cheap and readily available source of more, with the rise and diversification of tabletop and is perhaps best summarized
sound-generating devices. Instruments such musical genres as power electron by John Bowers, who referred to such a
made from such waste are not always uni ics and noise, music continues, on one set-up as "a table full of shit" [20]. The
form, but can consist of odd components level, to become grainier, louder, noisier tabletop bears some resemblance to
and objects forced together. "Live" parts and dirtier. David Tudor's and Keith Rowe's sound
are often exposed, and wires and other tables. There are a range of DIY oscil
parts protrude from external casings. lators, appropriated hardware in the
William Gibson's bartender Ratz, in Neu Blood, Sweat and Tears form of effects units and pedals (stomp
romancer, has an analogous appearance: Process and performance in dirty elec boxes) routed in feedback networks, un
tronics are inseparably bound. The "per finished/part-circuits and breadboard
his teeth a webwork of East European
formance" begins in the search for found prototypes, a Nord Micro Modular, a ma
steel and brown decay_His ugliness
was the stuff of legend. In an age of af objects and on the workbench, where trix for routing signals, and found objects
fordable beauty, there was something he sound-generating devices are conceived. whose material, mechanical or acoustic
raldic about his lack of it. The antique There is labor involved, which, as the title properties are exploited to become part
arm whined as he reached for another
of this paper suggests, requires getting of the "instrument" (Fig. 2). The "spew"
mug. It was a Russian military prosthe
sis... cased in grubby pink plastic [13].

Dirty electronics also includes the tmmmmmmm

themes of disease and decadence: Where
there is dirt there is disease. The bas Fiff. 5. The Dirty Elec- n-^*. .,- i - J^^^^^l
tardization of electronic devices and, for tronics Ensemble per- iijit, ^W*^* < ilillteP' -:^-"''" iI^^^^^HH^^^H
forming at the Sonic SB?'1!^^,'"'"% .A' "IliSliy * ?- 1> ^H^^^^^^Ka^^^l
example, the process of circuit-bending Arts Network Expo i'SP^Iii^BB^. ^m^^^v JH^^^^H^HhI
can give rise to microchip cancers. Instru 2007, Plymouth, U.K., IP'J^^^HkP^M^^i"'' ^tfHH^^^^fl^H
ments slowly decay. Reed Ghazala writes:
"Let me just say that not all circuit-bent
June 2007. (Photo ? ft^i^^HH^^^^ ^=J|Hl^H|^|
Mar yam Asghari) ^^^^SI^^^^^fii^S^iMil^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Si^^^lll^^H
instruments are living instruments?that
is, instruments that burn themselves out
slowly, but faster than usual due to the
bending process." Ghazala continues:
"The instrument grows a little older,
moves a little closer to early demise, every
time it is turned on" [14]. There is also a
"plague" of self-made electronic devices
that play on the theme of insects: Tom
Bugs's Fly Contact Mies, Bug-Crusher and
Weevil [15] and David Wright's Horrible
Insect Synth, to name but a few [16].
As high tech gets higher and technol
ogy gets cheaper, what might be consid
ered low tech appears even dirtier. This
point is encapsulated in the idea of low
resolution sound-generating devices.
Some examples include Noah Vawter's
1-Bit Groovebox and One-Bit Love (an
interactive musical sculpture) [17],

2,0 Richards, Getting the Hands Dirty

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of wires connecting the devices together tended into the performance "onstage." rediscover the bricolage in performance.
gives an overall messy appearance. The The audience can see me engage with Some examples of what could be consid
overriding aesthetic is that anything objects strewn across a sound table or ered live bricolage that have influenced
goes, although I consciously avoid us physically patching devices together and, my performance practice are the groups
Loud Objects [23] and the Breadboard
ing a laptop. I often think of my messy to refer to Levi-Strauss, thinking through
sound table as the "remains" of my lap bricolage [22]. It is this "live bricolage"Band [24], hans w. koch's core-sound [25]
top and Max/MSP patches that have approach and playfulness that makes for and John Bowers and Nicolas Villar's Pin
been obliterated through the process an engaging performance. Combinations & Play interface [26].
of bastardization, decoration and orna and recombinations of patched devices
mentation. The whole set-up is also gov create a sense of experimentation and
erned by its capacity to be carried and danger in the unknown and unpredict
Lost in Translation
transported [21]. able. The process of physically patchingMusicians working with digital technol
devices together sets up an expectationogy have to funnel the "physical" through
of cause and effect, with the potentialsome kind of conversion system. This is
Live Bricolage to link a sound with an action or move highlighted by Robert Pepperell and Mi
My tinkering and handiwork is not con ment. In computing terms, it could be chael Punt in The Postdigital Membrane:
argued that live coding is an attempt to
fined to the preparatory process, but is ex Imagination, Technology and Desire: "The

Workshop ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Hjj^^^^^^^^^^^l

(Photo ^^^^^^^^^hh^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^h

Richards, Getting the Hands Dirty 29

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Universe is not digital but it can be digi the tactile, and where the human body device lends itself to a range of perfor
tised. Consequently... living things will becomes part of the electronics through mance possibilities (Figs 4 and 5).
never be reduced to the mechanical its ability to conduct electricity. Michel The Sudoglue and Sudofuzz (Merz
(as we currently understand the term)" Waisvisz's instrument the Crackle Box, tin) are variations of the Sudophone.
[27]. In some quarters, electronic music Nicolas Collins's Sleight of Hand and the The Sudoglue takes an arts-and-crafts
and gestural mapping using sensors and body contacts and BEAsape of Reed approach to construction. Components
computers have become synonymous. Ghazala all point to an approach that are connected through wire-wrapping
Conferences such NIME, mentioned sticks up a finger (or two) at the hermeti and dead-bugging techniques. No circuit
earlier, include an abundance of paperscally sealed warranty universe of digital board is used for the Sudoglue: The IC is
on mapping gesture [28]. The physical technology. stuck directly to the chassis of the loud
is invariably reduced to a mere shadow Many of my devices incorporate the speaker. The bolt, tin and loudspeaker
of itself through mapping and, to use use of capacitance sensing, skin resis arrangement are retained. The Sudofuzz
a common phrase, something is lost in tance and the conductivity of the hu was specially designed for a collaborative
translation. The word "interface" is per man body. This again seems integral to project with Merzbow [34]. The circuit
haps the problem. This implies some the idea of getting the hands dirty in for the Sudofuzz is based around two
form of go-between, interpolation or performance. The Automaticiser is a CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide
boundary between two incompatible copper-clad board etching that doubles Semiconductor) logic ICs, a Hex Schmitt
systems. In performance, the shortcom as a touch controller (Fig. 3). By touch Trigger and Hex Inverter. The Sudofuzz
ings of working with digital technology ing the board's surface with the hands, is composed of a distorted oscillator with
have only emphasized the importance different connections and resistances are a feedback loop that are controlled by
of the "whole" and a truly integrated sys created. The controller can be patched touching the bolt and tin and additional
tem where the concept of "interface" is directly into sound-generating devices or coin-electrodes that are stuck to the side
removed and "instrument" is reinstated. via a DIY resistance matrix. As the name of the instrument. A low-voltage audio
Why not work in a more immediate and suggests, the controller makes use of au power amplifier IC is also used to drive
direct way with sound, even if this does tomatic procedures, not only in the way the loudspeaker [35]. The Sudophone
exclude the use of digital technology? it was created?a doodle made with a and its derivatives have served as good
I wanted to perform without having to Dremel?but also in performance [32]. pedagogic devices and workshop primers
mediate sound through the pixel and The scrawling squiggly etches make pre to consider ways of re-engaging the body
get beyond what Finer refers to as "one dicting connections and breaks nigh im in performance and designing devised
finger music," commonly associated with possible. I have also experimented with electronic instruments. The musician,
laptop performance [29]. a similar touch controller for bare feet having built the electronic instrument, is
Rather than thinking in terms of called the Foot-o-mat. a "super-user" and has an understanding
"mapping gesture," the design of elec of the device that ultimately will inform
tronic devices and their position on, for the performance (Fig. 6).
example, a tabletop can act as a way of
The Sudophone
dictating gesture and body movement (pseudophone)
in performance. The "things to touch," One particular device that exemplifies
POST-I
objects at hand and removed, and the the dirty electronics approach is the Su The miniaturization and mass produc
static, neutral "listening" position of the dophone (Fig. 1) [33]. The Sudophone tion of computers, making them porta
performer can be used to create geomet consists of a simple oscillator circuit us ble and affordable, has helped reposition
ric shapes in terms of body movement ing a 555 timer integrated circuit (IC), electronic music as a practice that exists
and gesture, much like the stylized move miniature loudspeaker, "junk" tin can outside of the recording studio. The min
ment in Kabuki theater. To return to the and grip-bolt. The Sudophone is played iaturization of digital technology has en
importance of the whole process being by gripping the bolt, while the other abled "machines" to be lightweight and
part of the performance, a found object hand cups the opening of the tin to pro carried. Carrying those machines is the
may be chosen on the basis of the physi duce a Harmon-like mute effect. Squeez human. The body is moving again. This in
cal gesture-type associated with it: For ing the bolt and tin alters the pitch of turn has made musicians and composers
example, lifting the lid of a teapot or the instrument by using the conductivity re-question the social and performance
turning a handle of a coffee grinder. The of the human body to change the resis aspects of electronic music. Larger elec
harnessing of gestures "found" in objects tance of the circuit. Without touch there tronic music ensembles have begun to
is something I have discussed in more de is no sound. With touch there is pitch, surface, where previously the solo laptop
tail in the paper "Lost and Found: the filtering and dynamic (muting) control. performer had threatened to dominate
Mincer" [30]. The instrument requires no amplifica the performance arena. For example,
tion; the output from the 555 drives the at the annual Sonic Arts Network Expo
loudspeaker directly and is in the true 2007 in the U.K. in a relatively small pro
NOISEHANDS sense "electroacoustic." The electronic gram there were three large ensembles:
"Noisehands" is an expression borrowed circuit is put together using stripboard Behaviour, the Semorphonic Orchestra,
from Masami Akita (Merzbow): "We tend (Veroboard) and the parts for the instru and the Dirty Electronics Ensemble (Fig.
to be very low-tech and analogue, so our ment cost just a few dollars, the battery 5) [36]. This move away from the narcis
actions show the effects of expanded being the most expensive item. The Su sistic solo laptop performer or the lone
noisehands, muscles... the body's move dophone is a cross between the Crackle bowler portrayed by Robert Putnam in
ment" [31]. This expression would seem Box and the miniature resonating objects Bowling Alone [37] reflects a current rise
particularly apt for describing an ap found in the works of Alvin Lucier, such in interest of group activity in the flesh.
proach to performance where there are as Chambers and Nothing Is Real (Strawberry This is most evident in the gaming in
expanded physical gestures, a focus on Fields Forever). Despite its simplicity, the dustry, where Nintendo's Wii is meant

30 Richards, Getting the Hands Dirty

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to return "gaming to simpler times" and 9. Jonathan Ive, interviewed by David Derbyshire 30. John Richards, "Lost and Found: The Mincer,"
[6]. Leonardo Electronic Almanac 15, No. 11/12 (2007). Ac
"put people more in touch with their cessed 23 June 2008, <http://www.leoalmanac.org/
games... and each other" [38]. 10. Lappetites, 5 May 2008, <www.lappetites.poem journal/Vol_15/lea_vl5_nll_12/JRichards.asp>.
producer.com>.
31. Masami Akita (Merzbow), selection of edited in
Conclusion 11. Leander Kahney, The Cult of Mac (San Francisco:
No Starch Press, 2004) p. 129.
terviews in Carlos M. Pozo, ed., Expanded Noisehands:
The Noise Music of Merzbow, 5 May 2008, <noiseweb.
In a recent symposium on devised elec com/merzbow/all.html>.
12. The WEEE Man was conceived by Hugh Knowles
tronic instruments, I was asked whether
and developed in partnership with Mark Fremantle, 32. The Dremel is a motorized rotary hand-held tool
both Fellows of the RSA. It was designed by Paul
I thought my work might be best repre
Bonomini. WEEE stands for the Waste Electrical and
often used for engraving.
sented on DVD as a movie [39]. In the
Electronic Equipment Directive, a European Com 33. The instrument was initially named Pseudophone
age of digital reproduction this would
munity directive introduced in 2003. ("false sound"), although this is also the name of an
instrument used for studying sound localization. To
seem a logical question. However, found13. William Gibson, Neuromancer (London: Voyager, avoid confusion between the instruments and to cap
objects in my performance are used, not 1995) p. 9. ture the essence of the device more accurately, the
only for their instrumental qualities, but
14. Reed Ghazala, "The Folk Music of Chance Elec instrument name was changed to Sudophone. Sudo
(super user do) is the name of a computer program/
also as theatrical props and evocative
tronics: Circuit-Bending the Modern Coconut," Leon command for Unix-based environments that enables
ardo Music fournal 14 (2004) p. 101.
objects [40]. This combined with live root privileges. The name Sudophone is therefore
derived from a pun on pseudo and the idea of a user
bricolage, the use of gesture and move
15. Tom Bugs, 5 May 2008, <www.bugbrand.co.uk>.
in total control.
ment to navigate the audience through16. David Wright, 5 May 2008, <www.notbreathing.
com>. 34. Merzbow with the Dirty Electronics Ensemble,
the performance, the ephemerality of my
PACE Building, Leicester, 17 April 2008.
instrument and its indeterminate sound
17. Noah Vawter, 5 May 2008, <web.media.mit.
35. Schematics and more information available at:
world firmly root my work in the "live"
edu/~nvawter/projects/lbit/index.html>. One-Bit
Love is an interactive, musical sculpture by<www.jsrichards.com>.
Noah
tradition. Digital technology has only
Vawter originally run in Art Interactive (Cambridge,
served to act as a lever for me to produce 36. Sonic Arts Network Expo, Plymouth, U.K.,
MA) as part of the Collision 7 show (April 2005),
22-25 June 2007. The directors of the ensembles
curated by Jack Bacharach and Dan Paluska.
work that is un-digitizable. As Laurie An were: Andy Keep (Behaviour), Duncan Chapman
derson stated, "there is not enough dirt (Semorphonic Orchestra), and John Richards (Dirty
18. Tristan Perich, 5 May 2008, <www.tristanperich.
com>. Electronics Ensemble?also referred to as IMP in the
in virtual reality" [41 ]. By putting the dirt
program).
back in the "real" and getting the hands 19. Tom Bugs [15].
37. Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and
dirty, there is a place for the live in the
20. John Bowers, "Towards a Creative Research
Revival of American Community (New York: Simon 8c
age of digital reproduction. Schuster, 2000).
Practice: Combining Empirical Studies, Reflective
Practice and Musical Design," Creative Process Sym
38. Nintendo Wii philosophy/experience, Nin
References and Notes posium, Music, Technology and Innovation Research
tendo web site, 5 May 2008, <wii.nintendo.co.uk/14.
Centre, De Montfort University, 18 October 2006.
html>.
1. Atau Tanaka, "NIME 06 Artistic Program?A
21. John Richards, "32kg: Performance Systems for
Rough Guide," NIME Proceedings (Paris: IRCAM,
a Post-Digital Age," NIME Proceedings, IRCAM,39.Paris
Devised Electronic Instruments Symposium, Mu
2006) p. 8. sic, Technology and Innovation Research Centre, De
(2006) pp. 283-287.
2. Nicolas Collins, Handmade Electronic Music: The Art Montfort University, 21 November 2007 (with Pau
of Hardware Hacking (NewYork: Routledge, 2006). 22. Claude Levi-Strauss, The Savage Mind,line John
Oliveros, Brian Duffy and John Richards).
Weightman and Doreen Weightman, trans. (Chi
3. Nicholas Negroponte, "Beyond Digital," Wired 6, cago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1966). 40. Evocative objects?a term used by Sherry Turkle
No. 12 (1998). in Evocative Objects: Things We Think With (Cambridge,
MA: MIT Press, 2007).
23. Loud Objects, 5 May 2008, <www.loudobjects.
4. Jem Finer, interviewed by Will Johnston. "Jem com>.
Finer: New Musical Underground," The Independent 41. Laurie Anderson in "Brave New World," Steven
(31 August 2006). Accessed 5 May 2008, <arts.in 24. Breadboard Band, 5 May 2008, <www.bread
Levy, ed., Rolling Stone (14 June 1990) p. 96.
dependent.co.uk/music/features/articlel222932. boardband.org>.
ece>.
25. hans w. koch, 5 May 2008, <www.hans-w-koch.
Received 2 January 2008.
net>.
5. Henry Cowell, "The Joys of Noise," in Christoph
Cox and Daniel Warner, eds., Audio Culture: Readings
26. John Bowers and Nicolas Villar, "Creating
in Modern Music (New York: Continuum, 2004). Ad Richards's work explores performing with
John
Hoc Instruments with PPP," NIME Proceedings (Paris:
self-made instruments and the creation of in
IRCAM,
6. Jonathan Ive, interviewed by David Derbyshire, 2006) pp. 234-239.
The
teractive environments. He has worked with
Telegraph (19 November 2005). "His goal was to make
27. Robert Pepperell and Michael Punt, The Postdigi
it simple to use and a joy to look at. He succeeded. many leading improvisers and musicians in
The result was the iPod." tal Membrane: Imagination, Technology and Desire (Bris
the field of live electronics, and performs regu
tol: Intellect, 2000).
7. Leander Kahney, "Design According to Ive," Wired larly with the group Kreepa. His recent work
28. International Conference on New Interfaces for
(25 June 2003). Accessed 5 May 2008, <www.wired. is released on Nicholas Bullen 's monium label.
com/news/mac/0,2125,59381,00.html>. Musical Expression (NIME) <www.nime.org>.
He is currently part of the Music, Technology
8. Marcus Fairs, "Jonathan Ive," Icon 004 (July/Au
29. Jem Finer, "gtr," elrino web site, 5 May 2008, <el
and Innovation Research Centre at De Mont
gust 2003). rino. co.uk/JemFiner/ gtr.html>. fort University, Leicester, U.K.

Richards, Getting the Hands Dirty 31

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