Absolute Machines

About a year ago Absolut Vodka comissioned a couple of projects called Absolute Machines in which they got some technically inclined artists to make interactive art pieces. The Animusic vid we were watching this morning reminded me of this. And no, its not computer animated, its da real deal. One of the machines is called Absolute Quartet and was designed/constructed by Dan Paluska and Jeff Lieberman. As far as I can tell, the user inputs a melody of sorts on a computer keyboard and then the program/machine will extrapolate other music elements (high pitched pad sound from wine glasses, cymbals, a snare sound, and a wood block type thing) to go along with the original melody played on the marimba. The machine plays your "composition" and then sends you a link to a video of it performing. The exhibtion ran until last April and was installed in a warehouse type space in NYC. Videos abound on the interwebs. This is a better looking, more artsy one made for Absolut.