The Semekrys

In the early 90's, I created an instrument using touch-screen technology. The Semekrys used 4 large flat touch-screens, mounted on a plexiglas structure. Two of them were continuous and were sending the position of a finger in a 1000 x 1000 grid, and the two others had 96 square zones. I used a serial connection to send the data to an Amiga 2000 computer, where a program translated the gesture-related information into MIDI events. I used the continous screens to control synthesis parameters such as cutoff frequency and resonance, and the screens with zones to trigger notes or small sequences. I first presented this instrument at the Atacom 93 exhibition near Paris in France, where it was a real big success. I also used it at Galerie Bernanos to sonify the exhibitions / installations of the american artist Alexander Mittelmann.

The Semekrys