BRIEF HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
The history of the contact microphone is related to the history of piezoelectricity, since most contact mikes have made with piezoelectric materials...
GODFRIED WILLEM-RAES
As the founder of Logos, the composer and performer Godfried Willem Raes, is quite known for his work as instruments maker, as he created over a few decades a huge Robot Orchestra...
Piezoelectric microphones, a special kind of contact microphone, constitute the core of the presented research project. A contact microphone is a microphone that senses audio vibrations through physical contact with a solid surface or immersion in liquid, and converts them into an electric signal. It is an old, often inexpensive technology that has stimulated the creativity of several generations of musicians and sound artists, precisely because of its peculiar property of activating a different way of listening. Contact microphones have been widely used to turn everyday objects into “musical instruments”, as an alternative to synthesis for sound effects. Sonic exploration of the acoustic characteristics of different objects uncovered new ways to conceive sound material while revealing a different perception of the materiality of sounds. A contact microphone can be intended as a cultural object if one takes into account the connections and relationships arose between musicians and composers that have used this technology, even if with different purposes and aesthetics.
MIKROPHONIE I by KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN and the FEEDBACK STUDIO
Karlheinz Stockhausen explored live electronic processing with his pivotal work, Mikrophonie I (1964)...
MUSICAL APPLICATION
Piezoelectric innovations played an important role in the development of electronic music, especially in the experimental scene from the late 1950s onward...
CARTRIDGE MUSIC by JOHN CAGE and APPLE BOX by PAULINE OLIVEROS
John Cage was one of the key figures in the musical application of contact mikes and extreme amplification, as exemplified in his work Cartridge Music (1960)...
HUGH DAVIES
The British composer and live electronics pioneer, Hugh Davies (1943- 2005), invented more than 130 concert instruments, sound sculptures, and site-specific installations...
DAVID TUDOR - COMPOSERS INSIDE ELECTRONICS
With regard to the development of live electronic music, the artistic mate of Cage, David Tudor was truly a pioneer...
The ARTAUDFOON – PETER SCHAT
The idea of amplifying metal sounds with contact microphones was also applied by the Dutch composer Peter Schat (1935-2003)...
RICHARD LERMAN
Richard Lerman is another artist who contributed significantly to the research on the musical use of contact microphones...