A 'Hackable' Cube, the Future of Electronic Music?

"Hackable instruments," like an 8-inch wooden cube, may spark a musical revolution, according to hopeful electronic engineers and musicians at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL).

The cube, a simple wooden box containing a sensor, computer chip and speaker, transforms touch into sound. The box's creator is Andrew McPherson whose work on 'hackable instruments' at QMUL, is supported by Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funding and input from London Music Hackspace, according to a release from the council.

McPherson's previous projects have focused on re-imagining keyboards or other instruments that require years of training. The cube is designed to be experimental, "encouraging performers to discover unusual playing techniques such as tapping, brushing and rubbing, unlocking their creativity and showing what can be achieved when there are no preconceptions about playing styles."

McPherson's collaborator Victor Zappi admitted to being anxious about the musicians' initial reaction, "Everybody noticed that this is a really simple instrument, and when they first saw it they were kind of disappointed. But then they really engaged with it, and after just one week they understood this is simple but there's much more inside."

Michael Poll, a classical guitarist, immediately saw the potential. "It sounded fantastic," he said. "I had full faith it would be something cool. In some ways, the box is a musician's dream, as a blank palette. My only fear is my ideas might be too conservative for the project."

In his initial approach, Poll adapted guitar fingering techniques to produce "raga-like" rhythms. Other testers have rested bells on the speaker for rattling sounds or licked the senor, generating a continuous tone from the saliva left behind.

"Hacking instruments is not in itself new," said McPherson. "Traditional instruments have long been used in innovative ways the designer did not anticipate. Distortion on the electric guitar was an engineering limitation before it became the sound of rock and roll; and the turntable was a home playback device before it became a creative tool in the hands of DJs. We want to explore how encouraging that same spirit of adventure can transform digital instrument design."