Imogen Heap - First Train Monome
Monday, September 7, 2009 at 11:25AM Well... I should really be doing some work (hey, research IS work!) but here I am posting more live electronic music brilliance from Imogen Heap. Here she is playing a song from her new album on David Letterman and she has a new toy. Watch it first, then we'll discuss... :-)
David Letterman is a complete twat, don't you think? So rude...
Anyway. Now I've got that off my chest, let's get to the important stuff. What's that box she was playing on her lap?
It's called a Monome and it's a custom built control interface. It has no internal functionality at all - it consists of a bunch of buttons with little lights in them. It connects to a computer via usb, where there is a piece of software running that turns the button presses into useful data for controlling other bits of software, and also drives the lights inside the buttons (which are driven independently of the button presses). This model is called the two-fifty-six - aptly named as it comprises of a 16 x 16 grid of buttons – 256 in total.
The great thing about this is it's flexibility. It was first developed to drive max/msp, but thanks to the open source philosophy of the inventors, plus the community that has grown around the idea, there are now lots of unique applications available to allow the Monome to operate as a standard midi controller, or to interface specifically with a range of different kinds of software.
The whole philosophy of the product, and the company that makes them, is very minimalist. They have only three models - the sixty four (8x8 buttons), the one twenty eight (16x8) and this one - the two fifty six (16x16), plus there is a DIY kitset version of the prototype version available as well. They don't sell via retail shops. They only make 100 of a specific particular model at a time every three months or so, and they typically sell out online in 5 minutes so you really need to pre-order to get one.
But lets get back to Imogen. My admiration for her is only enhanced by this comment I found on the Synthtopia forum discussion of this performance:
i helped her with the monome setup and can assure you it was not faked or otherwise embellished.
she's using a combination of applications, i'm not 100% sure on the entire setup, but it looks like pages on the top half for the live looping and possibly scene triggering, polygome on the bottom left, and npc on the bottom right. this is all around an application called 'hub' that lets you split the monome into multiple zones, each one running a distinct application.
keep in mind she's only had the monome for a few weeks, i think the performance you saw on letterman was the result of one weekend of practice, probably less. so she's definitely a little nervous, not only with where everything is (because it's still fairly new to her) but also with the huge software stack. something could easily have gone wrong, luckily it didn't. i thought she did amazingly well given the circumstances.
even if you hate monomes and etc. you have to give her kudos for being brave and adventurous with the performance. she was panicking a bit at the last minute and tweeting about how she might just go acoustic with only piano, but i'm glad to see she went for it.
So am I. :-)
Imogen Heap, Letterman, Monome, live electronica, software in computer music
Reader Comments (6)
she continues to blow me away with her simple melodicism, communicative vocal and ability to [paint] a picture and create real atmosphere in her music. Love it.
Also it's kinda sexy how into technology she is. I mean, for a *girl* .
<flame suit on>
<oops> clearly I meant "Paint" and picture not "Pain" a picture.
Ooh...you're right, Letterman does act like a jerk. Maybe he's intimidated.
I guess that's natural, being a host to all that talent. Must start to take its toll after a while. Still, it was horrible how he was pretending to open up dialogue with her at the end, but it was just a farce. And how dismissive he was at the start.
Ah well, everybody falls. I don't think it diminished the performance.
Hi Geoff - I corrected the mistyped word in your post. Disappointing lack of response to your 'for a *girl*' comment... :-)
Hi Huggies - I felt sorry for her because I thought she looked quite embarrassed at the end. His rudeness certainly didn't diminish the performance. It reinforced the impression I already had - that Imogen is creative and humble, and that Letterman is arrogant and obnoxious.
ANYWAY - who wants a Monome? Oooh. Oooh. I DO! I DO!
[belated response]
Oh Geoff, you horrible horrible person. You said something about technology and girls and I think I'm supposed to be offended on behalf of the female sex.
You'd better not do it again (even though we all know you will, because generally-speaking, guys like reactions and attention from girls).
Better? :)
Thanks Huggies. You have restored balance to the force. ;)