playtronica's MIDI device turns vegetables into musical instruments

creative technology studio playtronica has found a way of making music with pretty much anything including vegetables. their electronic devices transform touch into midi notes making anything into a midi controller including one that turns the human body into a keyboard.

images courtesy of playtronica

how it works is by effectively creating a circuit between the device and human body or the fruit. it’s then connected to a computer so when you touch the instrument the circuit is closed, and a specified sound is played. the tools are designed to work with organic materials and mostly anything that has water inside.

the boards connect to hardware, software or browser-based synthesizers and can be used for musical performances, installations and workshops. playtron is designed to work with up to 16 objects using cables and crocodile clips, meanwhile touchme can be used to make music with the human body. both boards emulate a midi input device that connects to a computer via usb and can control various online synthesizers via the web MIDI API.

to activate the touchme board, two people can touch one of the side contact surfaces and use the other’s skin to play music. it works by measuring the resistance values ​​between the contact areas and converts them into notes, turning the skin into a kind of keyboard. the board then sends the notes as midi signals to the selected online interface.

playtronica was created in 2014 by theatre producer sasha pas, with the goal to broaden musical education by building instruments from everyday life. it has collaborated with brands like hermes, issey miyake, IKEA and nike, as well as museums like centre pompidou and the palais de tokio.

‘the idea is to connect humans and objects in one electric chain and measure the intensity of human touch, which is technically a change of electric resistance,’ explains the studio. ‘usually, we don’t think about it, but our bodies are batteries, using electricity to communicate the brain with other body parts. so why not use the same idea to interact with other organic materials using sound as a medium?’

‘I see the future of technology as an extension of human possibilities, amplification of the senses and process of design for new sensory modalities. it will be fun!’, explains pas.

project info:

studio: playtronica
founder: sasha pas 
creative technologist: andrey manirko
designer: aglaya demidenko
sound designer and composer: olga maximova
curater of events: vincent de malherbe