Bionic Orchestra

Ezra, Organic Orchestra · technologies for live beatbox · 2008 – 2015 · Fontevraud Abbey, Vivoin Abbey, tour

Our role Design, electronics, sound, real-time software.

Technologies for live beatbox, developed with Ezra and the Organic Orchestra company over two residencies a year from 2008 to 2012, with engineers, visual and music creators and researchers from the Music Technology Group of Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona. Part of the residencies took place in the CEA’s Art & Science programme in Grenoble.

An electronic glove that drives the whole performance, a looper for a human orchestra, automatic 7.1 sound spatialisation, real-time projections triggered by the music and motion detection. We developed the software chain linking the glove, the voice, the sound and the image, with Ableton Live, Max/MSP, openFrameworks, Kinect, iPhone and iPad, Wii and Arduino.

A week-long residency at Fontevraud Abbey was devoted to sound-driven interactive mapping and to the looper, Maya Benaïnous on projection, Cyril Laurier on sound. Presented at Music Tech Fest London in 2013, and played in concerts and workshops around the world.

In 2015, a long residency at Vivoin Abbey brought together thirty artists living on site in caravans around augmented paper: exploring the boundaries between physical matter, print and digital interaction, with school visits, workshops and performances for the local public. Maya Benaïnous built a motorised kinetic sculpture there.

“I want the audience to get lost between what I do thanks to the machine and what I can really do organically.” Ezra

Credits

Company and production Organic Orchestra
Artistic direction Ezra
Performers Ezra, L.O.S (Laurent Duprat)
Multimedia engineering Thomas Pachoud
Software development coordination Cyril Laurier
3D and interactive animation Maya Benaïnous
Sound recognition Amaury Hazan
Spatialisation Ivan Huta
Bionic Looper Arnaud Bannais
Lighting Bruno Teutsch
Graphic design Virginie Salvanez
Research Music Technology Group, Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Support Pays de la Loire Regional Council, Fondation Mécène et Loire, CNV, Projet Bizarre!, MCD, Parc de la Villette (WIP Villette), Fontevraud Abbey, Les Z’éclectiques, Le Chabada, Moulins de Brainans, Les Baltringos

Credits, Bionic Orchestra 2.0

Software, electronics and video development coordination Thomas Pachoud
Technical coordination Clémentine Pradier
Development Martin Hermant, Ivan Huta, Cyril Laurier, Benjamin Kuperberg
Scientific advisors Dominique David, Laurent Jouanet
Electronics engineering Laurent Jouanet, Cyril Laurier Gobbo
Battery engineering Séverine Jouanneau, Nelly Martin
Glovemakers Jean Strazzeri, Laury Golliet
Artistic advisor Florence Loison
Set design Maurice L’Ampoule
Video creation Romain Tardy
Lighting Bruno Teutsch
Graphic design Virginie Salvanez
Co-production Atelier Arts Sciences (Hexagone Scène nationale Arts Sciences, Meylan; CEA Grenoble; La Casemate, Grenoble); L’Autre Canal, Nancy; MA scène nationale, Pays de Montbéliard; ONYX, La Carrière
With IDEAs Lab, FabLab CCSTI Grenoble, ENSCI students
Support Pays de la Loire Regional Council, DRAC Pays de la Loire, DICRéAM, Conseil général de la Sarthe, City of Le Mans, Fonds SCAN, CNV, La Banque Postale, KissKissBankBank backers

Press

“The glove contains numerous microsensors and miniature batteries and lets the artist control an entire sound and lighting system using natural hand movements.” MINATEC, 2013