Instrument Design for The Furies: A LaptOpera

Anne Hege, Camille Noufi, Elena Georgieva, and Ge Wang

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

• Year: 2021
• Location: Shanghai, China
• Article Number: 72
• DOI: 10.21428/92fbeb44.dde5029a (Link to paper)
• PDF link
• Presentation Video

Abstract:

In this article, we discuss the creation of The Furies: A LaptOpera, a new opera for laptop orchestra and live vocal soloists that tells the story of the Greek tragedy Electra. We outline the principles that guided our instrument design with the aim of forging direct and visceral connections between the music, the narrative, and the relationship between characters in ways we can simultaneously hear, see, and feel. Through detailed case studies of three instruments—The Rope and BeatPlayer, the tether chorus, and the autonomous speaker orchestra—this paper offers tools and reflections to guide instrument-building in service of narrative-based works through a unified multimedia art form.

Citation:

BibTeX Entry:

  @inproceedings{NIME21_72,
 abstract = {In this article, we discuss the creation of The Furies: A LaptOpera, a new opera for laptop orchestra and live vocal soloists that tells the story of the Greek tragedy Electra. We outline the principles that guided our instrument design with the aim of forging direct and visceral connections between the music, the narrative, and the relationship between characters in ways we can simultaneously hear, see, and feel. Through detailed case studies of three instruments—The Rope and BeatPlayer, the tether chorus, and the autonomous speaker orchestra—this paper offers tools and reflections to guide instrument-building in service of narrative-based works through a unified multimedia art form.},
 address = {Shanghai, China},
 articleno = {72},
 author = {Hege, Anne and Noufi, Camille and Georgieva, Elena and Wang, Ge},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.21428/92fbeb44.dde5029a},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {June},
 presentation-video = {https://youtu.be/QC_-h4cVVog},
 title = {Instrument Design for The Furies: A LaptOpera},
 url = {https://nime.pubpub.org/pub/gx6klqui},
 year = {2021}
}