
A collection of so-called digital luthiers at the Audiovisual Institute at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona has created an insanely cool new instrument known as “the reactable.” The instrument is comprised of a glowing surface and a series of blocks. When the blocks are moved they make a sound that reflects both the sonic nature of that particular block and the way in which it was moved. The user can change everything from pitch to volume to duration of each sound simply by moving it.
Bjork took one look at this intuitive, collaborative digital instrument and decided she had to have it for the Volta tour. There are only two reactables in the world, but Bjork was able to borrow one and incorporate it into her life show. “She saw it in action and she had to have it on the tour,” Bjork’s technical director Alan Pollard said of the quirky pop star’s reaction to the instrument. Cool, right?

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