Hannah Cai—Looking Outwards—04

Mi.mu

While looking for stuff on youtube, I came across this video. It caught my eye because I’m a fan of Imogen Heap, and I have to say that after watching this, I’ve become an even bigger fan of her. Using these “mi.mu” gloves developed by Imogen Heap, a person can basically generate music with a flick of the wrist. I’d love to see a dancer wearing them, composing music from choreography, rather than choreographing to music.

The gloves connect to her computer, and change the sound produced based on factors such as position in space, pressure, hand position, etc. Altering the filter and other details basically makes for real-time generated sound. The computational part is deciding how all the variables would influence the sound that’s generated; how pitch, range, and other factors are mapped to 3d space. Since Imogen Heap usually works a lot with free-flowing, unstructured electronic music (check out her song “you know where to find me”), her characteristic style is present in her use of these gloves, and the two really mesh well and augment each other. I know that a few other artists have used these gloves for performances as well (including Ariana Grande), but I doubt that their music would really benefit as much from these gloves as Imogen’s does, due to stylistic differences. All in all, I’m really impressed with how Imogen Heap created what’s basically an amazing instrument of her own, and how she’s using it to enhance and showcase her already distinctive approach to music.