Jo Hamilton introduces the AirPiano
You can see Jo performing a current track 'Alive Alive', with the Air Piano, at -
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0BsumJZUpw&fmt=22
Thursday 16th September sees an exclusive glimpse of a unique new instrument as well as a performance by the groundbreaking artist who has been pioneering its use. The AirPiano is an innovative musical interface that allows the user to play and control software instruments on an attached computer simply by moving their hands in the air above it. The artist Jo Hamilton who has been compared to both Bjork and Goldfrapp, will be demonstrating the AirPiano at the Apple Store, Regent Street on September 16th 2010. The event will begin with a talk about the AirPiano at 7pm followed by a performance by Hamilton herself.
About the AirPiano: The AirPiano has a virtual matrix of eight horizontal sensors, each of which has three vertical zones - giving 24 'keys' in total. Each of the 'keys' can play any note on an attached electronic instrument or computer, when the user's hand is detected over that zone - or the user can choose to make any of the eight horizontal zones into a fader, controlling things such as volume, pitch, brightness etc - even stage lighting! Hamilton stumbled across the AirPiano quite by chance: she’d been looking for a practical way to expand the array of sounds she could create live, to better reflect the intricately layered sound of her ‘Gown’ album without having to change instruments. On the web she came across a video of an early prototype,, contacted the designer Omer Yosha, then traveled to Berlin to meet him and collect a prototype he made for her to use. In return for using the only instrument in use outside the inventor's lab, Hamilton has been providing feedback on design features and has been pioneering its use with Apple Mainstage. You can see the full story here.
About Jo Hamilton: Stemming from a nomadic family with roots in both Kenya and Jamaica, Hamilton was brought up in a house two miles from the nearest neighbour in the wilds of northern Scotland. A snapshot of the intensity of this wilderness is revealed by Jo herself: “There were three of us in our one-room primary school at the top of a hill in the Highlands. With our teacher from the Isle of Skye, we sang together, nostalgic old Gaelic lullabies and island folk songs about the land, sea, and returning home, while in the distance we could hear the roars of the rutting stags.” Hamilton’s debut album Gown was produced by Jon Cotton (who produced Scott Matthew’s Ivor Novello Award-winning album Elusive) and - to coincide with the launch of the AirPiano - is to be released as a Special Edition featuring additional tracks and a slipcase by 4AD/David Sylvian designer Chris Bigg.
“Singular and unforgettable, Hamilton is quite a discovery" The Guardian
“An amazing voice that can glide like KD Lang and essay Bjork weirdness” Uncut
“The sort of album that will spread from music lover to music lover purely by word of mouth” Independent On Sunday
