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The
User 
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This
is Be Connected. I'm David Clements. What
you're hearing right now is the music of machines,
not synthesizers, but music made by machines never
intended for musical composition. This is the work
of a group called "The User". Fronting the band
are architect, Thomas McIntosh and composer, Emmanuel
Madan. They combine their skills to create new sounds
from the noisiest of outdated office equipment,
dot matrix printers. As Emmanuel explains, the sonic
palette these dinosaurs provide is really rather
impressive.
"By using a wide variety of different models and
mechanisms we're able to basically create an orchestra
-- some printers that have a lot more bass to them…
some that are more in the treble register… some
that print extremely fast and some that do slower,
more pounding types of rhythms. Then, within a single
printer you have a fairly wide range of sounds."
All of the player printers are controlled by a DOS
based Local Area Network. The Server computer, rather
the conductor, is responsible for keeping the tempo
among the players in the Orchestra. During a live
performance, the conductor computer has an additional
responsibility. It must control another printer
that is linked to a video switcher to show the audience
what the individual printers are actually playing.
"Before, nobody believed that the sound was actually
coming from the printers. They thought that we just
had a bunch of computers set up on stage and were
playing a tape or something."
When Thomas and Emanuel first got started with this
project they didn't find success overnight, but
did manage to find enough unused printers and computers
quickly from area businesses. Before long, they
put on their first show in Montreal and after a
positive initial response, managed to secure funding.
"The project has some interesting things to say
about technology, about obsolescence. How is it
that within less than a week, we could pick up a
whole bunch of used stuff, set it up and make music?"
"The User" will be releasing Symphony for Dot Matrix
#2 shortly. In the meantime, Thomas and Emanuel
are working on their next project, Silophone, turning
a grain elevator into a musical instrument. For
Be Connected, I'm David Clements.
To
find out more about "The User", visit
the site at:
http://www.sat.qc.ca/the_user/dotmatrix/en/intro.html
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