O-Bow
The O-Bow is a bow controller consisting of an optical movement sensor mounted to measure the bow speed and horizontal angle with high resolution. Depending on the actual sensor used the bow can be almost any surface, including a wooden stick.
Development of the O-Bow was prompted by the lack of robust, and inexpensive bow controllers. Synthesized string instruments frequently appear in recordings, yet the range and quality of articulation is very limited for such expressive instruments.
A real string instrument requires careful control of bow velocity, down force, bow position, finger position and vibrato, which can take many years to master. The O-Bow requires only the control of velocity, which is natural and quickly learnt. Pitch can be controlled using a conventional keyboard, and vibrato using bow angle and/or key pressure.
From a wider viewpoint, bowing is a very natural, ancient and expressive mode of control. It deserves to be integrated better into the modern world of electronic sound, which extends beyond string instrument emulation.
The O-Bow has initially been used with a simple one-sample synthesiser as shown in the following video.
You can
download this video here.
Also read a review in Engadget magazine here.
New prototypes and casing are being developed, along with more sophisticated software synthesis. A related patent application
has been filed.
The
following photo shows a new prototype being used with Eigenlabs
Eigenharp Alpha. This allows precision bowing to be combined with the
sensitive and highly controllable keys of theEigenharp, in a natural cello configuration.
A closeup of the O-bow prototype -
This
prototype works with a wide variety of bowing material, including real
bows and wood. The natural grain of wood provides useful passive haptic
feedback, whereas the spring of the real bow helps with bouncing off
the contact. The reduced weight of a simple wooden rod can be an
advantage.
web [@]
zenprobe.com