The screen shows the visual source.
(jpg, mov, camera)
The player selects and moves round an area via trackpad.
The visual data within the area is transformed into waveforms.
Lighttable and Camera
Here is the place to touch the waveform and to
enter the optical soundtrack.
You can act with your hand, templates or whatever to create waves.
Plexiglas Controller
The user interface consists of an on-monitor plexiglas hardware controller
which adresses 4 software pages.
20 potentiometers and 21 buttons
give you quick access to the functions.
All values are shown directly behind and around the controlling potentiometer or button.
Sounds :
The Editor Pages
Modulation and Sequencing
SILHOUETTE waves are used for sound and modulation.
5 waves can be stored and edited.
LFOs and EGs ride these waves and modulate visual source parameters
and sound parameters.
It can also modulate pitch data to get sequences and arpeggios.
The modulation and sequence data can be sent via MIDI to external other synthesizers.
Wave Editor
SILHOUETTE waves can be edited by gain, offset, stretch, compress, fades, quantize and hand drawing.
It is possible to load common LFO waves like sine, square, triangel etc. as presets.
It is very effectiv to edit a modulation wave while modulation!
Ride a Wave
The 4 LFOs are counters, they ride through the waves.
They are synched rythmatical.
LFO 1 is the master clock.
The other 3 lock their tempo in relations like 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 5/4 etc.
to create a komplex poly rhythmical modulation net.
Software
The software is written under the
Pure Data environment. More functions around the SILHOUETTE concept will follow in future.
Multimedia
The combination of converse influencing visuals and music
offers a unusual innovative instrument for musician, dancers and artists.
Visual structures and loops can be shown on a screen.
It is also possible to film a choreografic theatre performance with the webcam
and to use these pictures as input for the SILHOUETTE music at the same time.
Screening of visual content:
Tracks and Trains :
1992:
2014:
2016:
2017:
2019:
2021:
2022:
Evolution
The wish to form and play optical soundtrack waveforms within a musical instrument arose in the early 1990s, when musician and inventor Johannes Pit Przygodda studied experimental film at the artschool, Hamburg, Germany.
He did several experiments with the optical soundtrack
("Gardine sing sing")
and became addicted to it.
But for years and years he saw no technical possibility. 20 years later first ideas for a software solution were born.
- From the first concrete software attempts in 2014,
- an appearance at Superbooth 2016 ("VIDEOVOX")
- to a "SILHOUETTE" hardware prototype #1, 2017 (see
demo-video)
- and to follower model (prototype #2 and #3, Superbooth 2019)
- J.P.Przygodda has utilized the corona gap in 2020/21
to re-think and intensify the concept and to build the " SILHOUETTE eins" prototype 1.
- 2022: start of production and sale of the first short run.
- transforms live cam stream, jpg and mov files
into audio and modulation waves
- real time
- flexibel camera hold to stream from the surrounding
(dance, architecture, painting, daylight, wheather,...)
- lighttable for creating silhouettes
- 2 visual sources mixable and recordable for reload
- adjustable selection area
- trackpad to move area and for edit functions
- optical soundtrack oscillator
- users add their own content (pictures and movies)
- 5 modulation wave slots
- 7 modulation driver sources (LFOs, EGs, etc.)
- LFOs linked mathematical for polyrhythmic modulation
- 18 modulation adresses (video and audio)
- sequence unit
- 4 voices incl. individual volume control
- 4 Keyboard modes:
poly, unisono, shift
- innovative plexiglass controller adresses 4 parameter pages
- stereo output linkable to area position
- video output for audiovisual performance
- external connections via midi:
write and read parameters to and from DAW send Silhouette`s modulation wave via CC to external devices convert modulation waves to CV (3rd party interface needed)
- 37 fullsize keys
- standalone instrument
- monitor retractable
- size (popped up monitor): 81 x 39 x 32 cm
- size (retracted monitor): 81 x 51 x 14,5 cm
- weight: about 14 kg
