I loved that Fretless-Saxophone-that-can-also-do-clarinetty-things. When he started off I thought, mmm okay, but then he starts playing this mean jazz! Well done.

I loved the fretless saxophone. It's just one of those ideas, where when you see it, you can not believe no one had thought of that before. Also, damn. The technique it'd take to have just decent intonation on that - so impressive.

i liked the Glissotar (fretless sax) the best, because this is really a finished instrument, with a new approach to a very old sound creating technique. i also liked that modified theremin, because ic can create even more hounting sounds, than the original.

I liked how the theremin connected two ideas that could be used for non musical communication for people with disabilities perhaps.

The pendulum is so inspiring. I would absolutely love a Chowndolo that sends out two or three analog CV signals to use on a modular or semi-modular synth.

I was initially curious at how well the Glissotar was controlled, if it was just a noise maker. Then the dude busts out Dona Lee and squashes that thought.

1:51 thank you for consciously taking it in that mastering English to that level is a whole undertaking for non native speakers

Took me a minute to figure out what the sax was doing, but that's freaking ingenious!

The hypercubes are really awesome and seems like it could be a good way for beginners like me to get into modular synthesis

Great now i want a Glissotar... Plus i'd love to hear four people playing the Star Wars Cantina Song on Glissotars 😂

As a former sax player my favorite is the magnetic strip sax. I can totally see his issues with the lowest notes. Even on a regular sax you really need to tighten your embouchure and give it more air to keep from squeeking those lowest notes. As a current fan of people like Hainbach and Look Mum No Computer I also really liked the cube modular design. That has the potential to be a creative and also more cost effective way to get into the modular synth world.

What a top notch freaky geniouses meeting. Felt in love with most of the instruments. Please keep reporting every year

the modular cubes seem like such a fun concept to play with also feel like the tree synth could create some really interesting detuned chords and progressions

This is amazing! Hope to be there presenting something interesting in the not-so-far future.

this video was very inspiring. loved the love they put in their instruments and the respect and admiration you showed them. truly impressed by those artists

Chowndolo is hands down my favorite for a concept. For the sound produced, the hypercubes made my skin tingle.

thanks for making this, never expected to like some of these so much

Hi Benn, great video! LOVE the Glissotar... and for a very personal reason, I also got first prize at the 2017 Guthman for a more high-tech version of the same concept, a fretless-acoustic-saxophone called the Infinitone (there are a few videos on my channel). I have always wanted a finger-only controlled version as well, and Dani did it!! Major congrats to him!! My version allows you to play any microtonal scale at any time through the use of digitally controlled motors connected to slides. Since Guthman, I have gone on to design and release a dynamic micro-tuning DAW plugin called Infinitone DMT... check it out, I think you would dig it! You can use it to retune all your hardware and software synths in real time to vibrant palettes of microtonal chords and scales.

Very nice video! Offtopic question: Is that follow up "additive synths" video ever coming? i was so hyped to hear about reverbs and how exactly you morphed that cello. Would be super awesome. Could you tease us, by telling us which synth u used for that cellomorphing? was it falcon?

They were all great, especially the Glissando Sax but my favourite was the Chowndolo (pendulum). I would love to see this as a polished product. Kickstarter anyone?!

The pendulum instrument was a fascinating instrument. Great ambient/cinematic sounds, and just really frickin cool. I also like the Aristid, which was another extremely cool instrument. I would like to see more of the Cicada instrument. I’ll go look for it.

This was super interesting! Thank you, Benn!

one of the coolest videos i've seen probably EVER. makes me think there might be a heaven

Absolutely epic and crazy instruments! The pendulum type instrument , (chowndolo) was my favourite

This is quality journalism.

T-Voks is so beautiful, I absolutely loved it, such a wonderful quality to the sound

Pulsar 23 lurking in the back there! ❤️

I love this video and that pendulum thing is brilliant!

This is the type of stuff I love to see. It really gets the brain going with different ideas.

Things like this make me smile. Engineering meets art-how much of a blurry line there really is between them. Pure curiosity and creativity. I love their innovation. Also, that chowndolo was like a dope ass interactive generative module.

I would really love to get my hands on the Chowndolo! I also love the Aristid, especially for it's concept with the plants and stuff. And those Hypercubes are pretty cool.

Thanks for reminding me. Committed to Continuum, but I love seeing all the new stuff each year.

Man! So inspiring! I want that Pendulum! And that Theremin! Great people!!

Wow these are all so cool. I legitimately don't know what I like the most

Woa! Benn, I'm so glad KZfaq suggested your channel. I've been a fan of your music since the mid-2000s, and never would have thought you'd be making content like this, and I'm SO glad you do! I'm also happy to see you've been doing it for quite some time now, and there's a video back catalogue for me to go through. I sound like a straight up plant haha, but I'm honestly really pleasantly surprised.

Thanks for sharing, this was really interesting!

SOOO want one of those Chowndolo gadgets, the possibilities look endless

Really loved this vid! My personal fav was "Talking Theremin." Happy to see Moog involved.

Tvoks blew my mind! It literally took me a sec to comprehend what I was hearing. Beautiful! Plus can you imagine this as a assistive communication device!?

Very very very cool that people are doing this. New instruments!!

Thank you. Fantastic and inspiring!

Great work, real creativity and visions that gladly made it to reality.

The haunting notes of the tree synthesizer were fabulous. I hope to hear more of it in the future.

Incredible, how people innovate around sound still, thanks you for recording and sharing that. I wouldn't find that myself. Thanks!:)

loved it and i want to check out the Cicada and a few others..

The Glissator is amazing. I love the fact that it's completely analogue. No electronics whatsoever. Props to all the other guys in this list but the Glissator just seems like such an obvious thing that should always have existed. Also huge respect to the guy who played it so well!

It was great meeting you there! Looking forward to chatting more.

Really interesting stuff. Some of those tools I have no idea how they'd be used........but I think that's half of the fun. When someone finds out what to do with the thing.

Very.. very interesting. Educational! Thank you.

This is the kind of cool stuff I liked to see at Mutek in Montreal, but I haven't been to that event in years.

This is delightfully mind-blowing!

The Glissitar? with the magnetic strip looks like such an intuitive instrument for people intimidated by all the mechanical keys :) I seriously am going to buy one of these someday

This is all incredible thanks sharing!

This is like a best of 60s idea of futuristic music instruments in the space age. But I have to agree with what seems the majority here. That fretless Sax is just... elegant. It seems natural, it seems right, I love that it works and I want it even though I can't play anything like it.

Hypercubes are really neat! Glissotar too, every instrument here is amazing. The Hypercubes for sure fit well in being sold to artists seeking a diy modular synthesizer

fretless saxophone deserved the W. freakin genius idea that’s obviously useful.

hi Rick... I almost lost it when i jumped up and show everyone .. I know that guy ... he taught me so much the last few years .... hi from South Africa......

Very interesting, I had a very successful career playing the Lyricon and the Yamaha WX-7. These still still the most adept at translation of breath pressure, lip pressure and finger placement into musical expression.

i go to georgia tech where this competition happened!!! it's nice to see this video :)

Cool! Participated in the 2010 competition with my mind controlled synth - was a lot of fun :-D

That was fantastic. The Glissotar was my favourite. I have made a Theremin so I totally understand the challenges they went through without even adding voice into the mix so that was also a close first. Everyone was impressive. My husband designs modules so this is an area I am used to and the cube modules were not anything out of the norm for us. I would have loved to hear a little more about the tree synthesizer because I wasn't clear on exactly what was going on there - seemed like maybe more of a midi device? needing the computer to actually play? Wasn't really sure. Thanks for putting this on - it was very cool.

Certainly one of the most unpredictable music channel. Traveling, macroscoping, modularing and so much more. I really enjoy each video you post.

Incredible stuff!! I have no idea how you could judge this as a competition, they're all so unique and awesome. This deserves so much more of a spotlight than a little computer lab... Also, that Psyacoustics link in the description seems broken / the site is down? I'm redirected to phishing/virus bait when clicking on it. Careful with that!

Hi Benn, Slightly off-topic question: Do you have experience in designing and "building" your own software instruments/effects using Faust or C++? I'd be more than delighted if you could share some of your insights, if applicable. Thumbs up for continuously informative and just great content!

My dad went to highschool with the father's son who created the moog synthesizer. His son played it a lot in talent shows.

The fretless sax guy should get an award just for being able to play Donna Lee on that thing.

Okay I gasped when he played Donna Lee

Holy shit that Alison Ma piece was fucking amazing. Thanks for the suggestion, Benn.

I liked that Reed thing and the tree gizmo.

So impressed with how in-tune the fretless saxophone was played! No way that is easy.

These are some really phenomenal, mind blowing, innovative, and beautiful sounding instruments. You are one of my favorite people ever, Benn. Thank you so much for recording this, and all that you do. The video you made about going out to the FL panhandle all alone, wayyyy out there, was super inspiring! I have been curious - Do you do any mentorships and/or teaching/education series or something? I am aware that you are a super busy fellow, so I understand if not. Anyway - Another fantastic video. I loved the FM Pendulum. The work you do is really top tier, and blows my mind every time. Have a wonderful day! 😎🐈‍⬛🌕🎛🎚🎙🎤🎧🎷🥁

ah man, these are all amazing!!

Amazing instruments. Well done to all the inventors.

I like Rick Biato, even though my interests are very experimental and electronic, and his videos are more traditional rock/jazz/r&b critique.

This stuff is super nerdy and I love it. The green one at the end (like a tree) reminds me of a similar orange/yellow colored "thing" Andrew Huang had on his channel a few years back; different implementation though. For me, the modular modular is awesome - it's like VCV rack in physical form. I'd love to buy a big set of those blocks and just play with them in an afternoon. I can totally see a more polished production release of them too (nice enclosures, color coded for "type" of module, fancy silk screened graphics, etc. Very innovative stuff overall though, wow!

Awesome. Thanks.

Some of this reminds me of those Mi.Mu Gloves. My two favorites are the Chowndolo and Aristid.

Mateo!! we did a residency together this year and his work is incredibly cool. He was showing me a project where you throw stones to create music like an occult ritual. Incredibly cool stuff

inspiring vid thanks dude

Fantastic!!!

It’s a testament to how a great piece of software stays relevant over many years. Case in point: Max MSP. I used it more than 15 years ago for an interactive generative music piece and it wasn’t a new piece of software then. I have to make a point of keeping up with what new creators are doing with it.it’s extraordinary.

So grateful to be exposed to this event and these creative people. I love this sort of thing so much.

I swear I've seen a sax designed like that, very old and leather. The magnet is genius and fixes problems I think I heard about it.

I’m curious to see your thoughts on the stemplayer. Taking any song, splitting it into stems and allowing for an interactive experience.

Feeling incredibly proud that the Ciondolo (or Chowndolo) is Italian! I thought it was very interesting

that fm pendulum is incredible. genius

This is so cool!

The pendulum! OMG dude make it available or the plans. I wants it!

Thank you so much for covering this event! ❤

I called it "fretless" before I read the time stamps. Fantastic!

The Fretless Saxophone combined new technology with traditional playing techniques, and produced musical sounds in a way that expanded the versatility of an established parent instrument. The clear winner. 😎

Would you have any more information or a link to the MAX MSP theremin people, please!!!

for those interested in the fretless sax, look into Bart Hopkin's 'Moe continuous pitch aerophones

So cool!

Glissotar (fretless sax) has been built for years by Bart Hopkin though he calls it the moe instruments. I've also heard it was originally a concept by Da Vinci. Amazingly unique instrument

Awesome idea! I often wonder what kind of instruments people are inventing. Questions: how do the Hypercubes interface with each other, if not with patch cords? How is the signal transferred from one module to the next? Is it instant, as soon as you sit one cube next to the other?

I totally understand your excitement in these experimental instruments. Innovation and imagination is intrinsically stimulating but what rattles my bars here is the element of play behind the science and behind the incentive for bringing the objects into being in the first place. Having grown up with primitive electronics cobbled together with inconvenience which got in the way of music making (eg. Wasp&Spider and later chained midi instruments) I'm puzzled by the fascination with vintage synthesisers and modular systems but if that's what stimulates an artist's creative juices, I am all for it. What I see a lot is a kind of parallel evolution (compare the reed instrument, as presented here with, say, the 18th century Chalumeau and the 40 years of development in breath driven midi controllers) , lovely though it is, we need to wait for the genius like Pastorius, after the development of the fretless bass guitar, or Tony Levin and the Chapman Stick, to really show us the potential here. Love you💕

For plant based synthesis, see the plugin Synplant from Sonic Charge; it's been around many years and worth a look. for advanced sound design and performance, have a look at SymbolicSound's Kyma systems - supercomputers for sound. Also around for many years, unfortunately not many demos of the system, and they're comparable in cost to high end keyboard systems

I want that pendulum FM !

Gotta have a glissotar. But where can I buy one?