János Négyesy, violin
Robert Willey, electronics
János Négyesy is the world's principle exponent of the electronic violin, and the major contributor to the enlarged spectrum of computer-generated sound which it makes available. Since leaving his native Hungary in 1965, Négyesy lived in Paris, Berlin, Vienna, and New York before joining the UCSD music faculty. He has performed at virtually every music festival of major importance in the world.
Robert Willey received his Ph.D in music from UCSD in 1990. Since that time he has assisted a computer music exchange program between CRCA (UCSD), CCRMA (Stanford), and LIPM (Buenos Aires). During that time he has also assisted the development of music technology in Brazil. His specialty is the design of interactive performance systems which he uses in his compositions and in collaboration with other artists.
The Electronic Violin is a continuing project of
the
Center for Research in
Computing and the Arts. Other researchers, composers, and performers have been involved with
the project at the Center (previously known as the Center for Music
Experiment), including Lee Ray, Gareth Loy, Päivikki
Nykter, Andy Voelkel, and Tom Erbe.
Presently the performing system uses an electric violin from Zeta Music Systems of Oakland, California, modified by Michael Monfort (UCSD). MIDI signals from the violin are sent to Max patcher software and synthesizers. The audio signal from the violin is sent to signal processors. At times an acoustic violin with midi pitch converter is played in addition to the Zeta.
A 30-minute concert video entitled "Fluxconcert" is available showing the system.
Center for Research in Computing and the Arts
University of California, San Diego - 0037
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, CA 92093-0037 USA
tel: (619) 534-4383