Michel Waisvisz ( ; 8 July 1949,

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

– 18 June 2008,

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

) was a Dutch

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

performer The performing arts are The arts, arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art ob ...

and

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

of experimental electronic musical instruments. He was the artistic director of

STEIM STEIM (STudio for Electro Instrumental Music) was a center for research and development of new musical instruments in the electronic performing arts, located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Beginning in the 1970's, STEIM became known as a pioneering cen ...

in Amsterdam from 1981, where he collaborated with musicians and artists from all over the world.

Biography

His involvement with STEIM goes back to 1969, when it was co-founded by his mentor and friend

Dick Raaymakers Dick Raaijmakers (Maastricht, 1 September 1930 – The Hague, 4 September 2013), also known as Dick Raaymakers or Kid Baltan, was a Dutch composer, theater maker and theorist. He is considered a pioneer in the field of electronic music and tape mu ...

. He was a member of Amsterdam's Electric Music Theatre scene of the 1970s, performing intensively and raising critical voices against the upcoming high-tech culture. He co-founded and organised the first sound festival in the Netherlands: The Claxon Sound Festival. Waisvisz had a passionate dedication to a physical, bodily approach to electronic music which he expressed in the use and presentation of his many developments of hardware and software instruments. From his point of view, electronic music is created in direct musical interaction with individual technology, allowing for instant travels into sound through improvisation. This multidimensionality in electronic musical practice has been summed up in the expression of

touch The somatosensory system, or somatic sensory system is a subset of the sensory nervous system. The main functions of the somatosensory system are the perception of external stimuli, the perception of internal stimuli, and the regulation of bo ...

in a 1998 essay written together with Joel Ryan and Sally Jane Norman.

Discography

*1974 ''Lumps'' (with

Steve Lacy (saxophonist) Steve Lacy (born Steven Norman Lackritz; July 23, 1934 – June 4, 2004) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer recognized as one of the important players of soprano saxophone. Coming to prominence in the 1950s as a Dixieland, progressiv ...

Han Bennick Han Bennink (born 17 April 1942) is a Dutch drummer and percussionist. On occasion his recordings have featured him playing soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, trombone, violin, banjo and piano. Though perhaps best known as one of the pivotal figu ...

, Maarten Van Regteren Altena) *1978 ''Crackle'' *2005 ''In Tune'' *2008 ''Shortwave'' (with Christine Sehnanoui)

Appears On

*1974

- ''Saxophone Special'' *1987 ''New Computer Music'' ( WERGO)

Musical instruments

Hardware Instruments:
'' TapePuller (1970):'' an instrument to play seated, pulling a tape with both feet over the tapehead, thus using the recording medium in a performative manner. '' CrackleBox (1974):'' a portable instrument with batteries and a built-in speaker. The oscillator is played by the direct touch of the fingers on the exposed contacts of the circuit. The player's skin becomes part of the circuit. '' CrackleSynth (1974):'' Michel Waisvisz' individual synthesizer. After bending a

VCS3 The VCS 3 (or VCS3; an initialism for ''Voltage Controlled Studio, version #3'') is a portable analogue synthesizer with a flexible modular voice architecture introduced by Electronic Music Studios (EMS) in 1969. EMS released the product ...

Synth (the "Putney") in the early 70s to play it with a touchable "crackle" surface, this three voiced instrument became Michel Waisvisz' synthesizer development. It has 12 keys with tuning knobs combined with three crackle-patches. '' The Hands (1984):'' One year after the

MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, ...

standard had been introduced, Waisvisz built the first experimental interface making use of sensor data converted into MIDI. The two wooden frames attached to both hands let him play music with hand and arm movements, tilting gestures, and fingered playing. Converting analog sensor data into digital musical data has become a major issue at STEIM in the 1990s, introducing the mini computer The SensorLab. Crackle Box.jpg, Crackle Box Michel Waisvisz - The Hands - 2006.jpeg, The Hands

Software instruments

He has also worked on the creation of software instruments, developed with STEIM's programmer Frank Baldé: * ''LiSa'' (Live-Sampling Instrument, since 1995) Software for the Mac, processing live audio input, or data from the memory in a most versatile way. * ''JunXion'' (Sensor-to-Midi Matrix, since 2002): Converting sensor data into musical data today can be done by every laptop computer. The Energetica Project (since 2005) "Energetica" is Waisvisz' vision of electricity provided for electronic instruments by the effort of the player him/ herself, theoretically developed in the last years of his life. As he has always fought pre-configurations and built-in directions in technology, the subjection to the communal power supplies.

Collaborations

Michel Waisvisz' collaborations include performances with

Maarten Altena Maarten van Regteren Altena (born January 22, 1943) is a Dutch composer and contrabassist. Altena attended the Conservatorium van Amsterdam (he studied contrabass) and graduated in 1968. Between 1980 and 1985, he studied composition with Robert ...

Laurie Anderson Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson (born June 5, 1947) is an American avant-garde artist, musician and filmmaker whose work encompasses performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and sculpting,Amirkhanian, Cha ...

Tarek Atoui Tarek Atoui (born 1980) is a Lebanese contemporary artist and composer. Biography Tarek Atoui was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1980. At the age of 18, in 1998, he started composing electronic music and moved to France. In 2007, he worked as an ...

Frank Baldé Frank, FRANK, or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a Germanic people in late Roman times * Franks, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusa ...

Lodewijk de Boer Lodewijk () is the Dutch name for Louis. In specific it may refer to: Given name Literature * Lodewijk Hartog van Banda (1916–2006), Dutch comic strip writer * Lodewijk Paul Aalbrecht Boon, (1912–1979) Flemish writer * Lodewijk van Deyss ...

Willem Breuker Willem Breuker (4 November 1944 – 23 July 2010) was a Dutch bandleader, composer, arranger, saxophonist, and clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindri ...

Peter Brötzmann Peter Brötzmann (6 March 1941 – 22 June 2023) was a German jazz saxophonist and clarinetist regarded as a central and pioneering figure in European free jazz. Throughout his career, he released over fifty albums as a bandleader. Amongst his m ...

, Najib Cheradi, John Cameron (

Claw Boys Claw Claw Boys Claw are a Dutch band, formed in Amsterdam. The core members of the band are Peter te Bos (vocals) and John Cameron (guitar). After some years of inactivity, the band started playing live again in 2007. Claw Boys Claw never attained ...

), Truus de Groot,

Gunter Hampel Gunter Hampel (born 31 August 1937) is a German jazz vibraphonist, clarinettist, saxophonist, flautist, pianist, and composer. He became dedicated to free jazz in the 1960s, developing a record label (Birth Records) and working with Jeanne Lee, ...

, Paul Hubweber,

Shelley Hirsch Shelley Hirsch (born June 9, 1952 in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York) is an American vocalist, performance artist, composer, improviser, and writer. She won a DAAD Residency Grant in Berlin 1992, a Prix Futura award in 1993, and multiple award ...

, Mazen Kerbaj,

Steve Lacy Steve Thomas Lacy-Moya (born May 23, 1998) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer. He gained recognition as the guitarist of the alternative R&B band the Internet, which he joined in 2015. His self-produced debut EP, '' ...

Misha Mengelberg Misha Mengelberg (5 June 1935 – 3 March 2017) was a Dutch jazz pianist and composer.Feather, Leonard & Gitler, Ira (2007) ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'', p. 459. Oxford University Press. A prominent figure in post-WWII European Jazz ...

, Patrizia van Roessel, Joel Ryan, Christine Sehnoaui, Fausto Senese, Shusaku,

Laetitia Sonami Laetitia Sonami (born 1957 in France), is a sound artist, performer, and composer of interactive electronic music who has been based in the San Francisco Bay area since 1978. She is known for her electronic compositions and performances with the � ...

, DJ sniff,

DJ Spooky Paul Dennis Miller (born September 6, 1970), known professionally as DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid, is an American Electronic music, electronic and experimental hip hop musician whose work is often called by critics "illbient" or "trip hop". ...

Richard Teitelbaum Richard Lowe Teitelbaum (May 19, 1939 – April 9, 2020) was an American composer, keyboardist, and improvisor. A student of Allen Forte, Mel Powell, and Luigi Nono, he was known for his live electronic music and synthesizer performances. He ...

, Moniek Toebosch, Jan St. Werner, Frans Zwartjes.

References

External links

http://www.crackle.org/
- text and image archive for Michel Waisvisz

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waisvisz, Michel 1949 births 2008 deaths Dutch musicians Inventors of musical instruments Musicians from Leiden