9.2 Brass Instruments in the Digital World
415
casing and additional switches under the valves (Morrill and Cook 1989; Cook
2001). These switches and pots were operated by the fingers and thumbs of the
player to generate MIDI control signals which could be routed through a computer
to synthesisers, samplers and signal processors. Pressure sensors in the mouthpiece
of the trumpet, and in a Harmon mute on the trombone, provided an acoustic signal
for pitch tracking. Instruments modified in this way, with additional sensors which
provide performers with the ability control extra sound or musical parameters, are
described as hybrid or augmented instruments (Miranda and Wanderley 2006).
Following the pioneering work of Cook and Morrill, a number of augmented
brass instruments have been constructed (Thibodeau and Wanderley 2013). In 1993
the trumpeter and composer Jonathan Impett and the electronics engineer Bert
Bongers developed an instrument described as a meta-trumpet (Impett 1994). A
conventional trumpet was substantially modified by fitting a range of physical
sensors, the outputs of which were directed to MIDI-controlled instruments and
processors. Magnetic sensors in extended valve caps tracked the movements of
magnets mounted in the valve pistons, while two pressure sensors were accessible
by otherwise unused fingers. Right-left inclination of the instrument was signalled
by two mercury switches mounted below the centre of the bell, and its overall
position in space was monitored by externally mounted ultrasonic receivers which
tracked the signals from a cluster of transmitters on the bell. Six switches near
the valves were available for modifying controller functions or triggering events.
The main aim of the meta-trumpet project was to provide a close and dynamic
relationship between the performer, the instrument and the improvised or composed
musical material. The possibilities of this integrated compositional and performance
system were first illustrated in Impett’s Mirror-Rite (Impett 1996).
A striking example of a hybrid instrument combining innovations in both
acoustical design and augmentation technology is the mutantrumpet, developed
and played by the composer and performer Ben Neill (Fig. 9.13). In its original
form, introduced by Neill in the early 1980s, the mutantrumpet was an expanded
acoustic instrument providing the player with a combination of three trumpets and a
trombone. Analog electronics was integrated into this remarkable device through
a collaboration with Robert Moog, inventor of the Moog synthesiser. In 1992,
while in residency at the STEIM research and development lab for new instruments
in Amsterdam, Neill made the mutantrumpet fully computer interactive, and the
instrument has been further developed in subsequent residencies at STEIM (Neill
2017).
Figure 9.14 illustrates Version 4.0 of the mutantrumpet, introduced in 2019. The
instrument has six valves, three of which perform the same functions as those on
a conventional trumpet. Two additional acoustic valves are provided to direct the
sound output between the three separate bells, one of which is a piccolo trumpet
bell incorporating a slide section on which glissandi can be executed. A third
additional valve is used to create microtonal pitch shifts. As well as the customary
switches and sliders, two joysticks allow for two-dimensional continuous parameter
variation. Neill’s performances involve a high degree of improvisation, in which
the interaction between acoustic and electronic manipulation is used to build up
415
casing and additional switches under the valves (Morrill and Cook 1989; Cook
2001). These switches and pots were operated by the fingers and thumbs of the
player to generate MIDI control signals which could be routed through a computer
to synthesisers, samplers and signal processors. Pressure sensors in the mouthpiece
of the trumpet, and in a Harmon mute on the trombone, provided an acoustic signal
for pitch tracking. Instruments modified in this way, with additional sensors which
provide performers with the ability control extra sound or musical parameters, are
described as hybrid or augmented instruments (Miranda and Wanderley 2006).
Following the pioneering work of Cook and Morrill, a number of augmented
brass instruments have been constructed (Thibodeau and Wanderley 2013). In 1993
the trumpeter and composer Jonathan Impett and the electronics engineer Bert
Bongers developed an instrument described as a meta-trumpet (Impett 1994). A
conventional trumpet was substantially modified by fitting a range of physical
sensors, the outputs of which were directed to MIDI-controlled instruments and
processors. Magnetic sensors in extended valve caps tracked the movements of
magnets mounted in the valve pistons, while two pressure sensors were accessible
by otherwise unused fingers. Right-left inclination of the instrument was signalled
by two mercury switches mounted below the centre of the bell, and its overall
position in space was monitored by externally mounted ultrasonic receivers which
tracked the signals from a cluster of transmitters on the bell. Six switches near
the valves were available for modifying controller functions or triggering events.
The main aim of the meta-trumpet project was to provide a close and dynamic
relationship between the performer, the instrument and the improvised or composed
musical material. The possibilities of this integrated compositional and performance
system were first illustrated in Impett’s Mirror-Rite (Impett 1996).
A striking example of a hybrid instrument combining innovations in both
acoustical design and augmentation technology is the mutantrumpet, developed
and played by the composer and performer Ben Neill (Fig. 9.13). In its original
form, introduced by Neill in the early 1980s, the mutantrumpet was an expanded
acoustic instrument providing the player with a combination of three trumpets and a
trombone. Analog electronics was integrated into this remarkable device through
a collaboration with Robert Moog, inventor of the Moog synthesiser. In 1992,
while in residency at the STEIM research and development lab for new instruments
in Amsterdam, Neill made the mutantrumpet fully computer interactive, and the
instrument has been further developed in subsequent residencies at STEIM (Neill
2017).
Figure 9.14 illustrates Version 4.0 of the mutantrumpet, introduced in 2019. The
instrument has six valves, three of which perform the same functions as those on
a conventional trumpet. Two additional acoustic valves are provided to direct the
sound output between the three separate bells, one of which is a piccolo trumpet
bell incorporating a slide section on which glissandi can be executed. A third
additional valve is used to create microtonal pitch shifts. As well as the customary
switches and sliders, two joysticks allow for two-dimensional continuous parameter
variation. Neill’s performances involve a high degree of improvisation, in which
the interaction between acoustic and electronic manipulation is used to build up