Orbes

I just had a play with Orbe whilst chatting to the creators of this kinestheic synthesiser for group musical improvisation, Amjad Chaudry and Vikesh Bhatt.

They describe this prototype as "a synthesiser designed for simultaneous multiple user participation." We hugged 5 translucent globes, from the floor to just above our heads, jiggled them about on their vertical pole, pressed buttons and listened to the pitch and tone warp as we talked about bringing "the funk back into jamming".

Amjad referred to it as an antidote to the Kraftwerk performance aesthetic: moody, eyes down on knobs and dials. He wants to bring our attention back not only to our ears but also to the other performers as we play- to the romance of human ensemble playing. And this was when I realised how close I was standing to them both. Less than a foot away, attention divided between the conversation and the sounds of the orbs and feeling pretty OK about it.