Some interesting variations on the Goldberg Variations at Michael Century’s Vimeo page.

In this version, performers use a Nintendo wireless controller to modulate dynamics, tempo, and incidence of looping. Computer programmed in Max strictly follows the 32 bar harmonic structure composed by Bach, but it’s possible to jump from variation to variation, in “random mode” (this only occurs rarely in this demo). The “linear mode” proceeds through Bach’s score as composed, though in the demo here it seems the computer sometimes has a mind of its own. Abrupt gestures caused seizures, sometimes with, and sometimes without recovery.

Sort of like a fancypants version of pianola controls, but with the ability to loop at will. 

(via immanent discursivity)

Katie Paterson’s Earth-Moon-Earth is another phenomenal installation piece: For it, she converted Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata into Morse code and bounced the signal off the moon. Using the received signal back on Earth, she reconstructed the score, leaving the signals that weren’t bounced back out, and set the new score to play on a Disklavier in the gallery.

You can listen to the received Morse code and piano playback, or see the Morse code and score pre- and post-moon bounce.

Finger Piano Share is an iPhone app that lets you remotely play a Yamaha Disklavier player piano (!). Up to ten people can play one piano, and the app includes a Rock Band-style scrolling notes play mode for playing pre-arranged things, AND an augmented reality component that lets you “see” stuff recorded by other people at the same location. So, if you stumble across a Yamaha Disklavier in the woods or something, you can play what someone else has recorded on it using this app.

The future is now!

(via Switched)