Halldorophone

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
halldorophone
Halldorophone.gif
A 2018 halldorophone with a combined neck and fingerboard in cast aluminium.
Electronic instrument
Hornbostel–Sachs classification513[1]
(Electrophone)
Inventor(s)Halldór Úlfarsson
Developed2008 -

The halldorophone (Icelandic: dórófónn) is a cello-like electronic instrument created by artist and designer Halldór Úlfarsson.[2] The halldorophone is designed specifically to feedback the strings,[3][4][5] making use of the phenomena of positive feedback to incite the strings to drone. The instrument gained some recognition in early 2020[6][7] when composer Hildur Guðnadóttir won the Academy Award for her original soundtrack to the movie Joker, some of which was composed with a halldorophone.[8][9][2]

A halldorophone, a cello-like intelligent instrument embedded with electronic parts.
A halldorophone owned by the Iceland University of the Arts. It was commissioned by the Design Fund in Iceland and gifted on January 17th 2022.

Operating principles[]

In the words of composer Nicole Robson: "The halldorophone utilises a simple system, whereby the vibration of each string is detected by a pickup, amplified and routed to a speaker embedded in the back of the instrument. By adding gain to individual strings in the feedback loop, the instrument's response can become rapidly complex, potentially spinning out of control. While every musical performance of a piece is unique in some way and contingent on its particular moment and situation in time, the unstable nature of the halldorophone exacerbates this condition."[10]

Uses[]

Concert music[]

A number of pieces have been composed and performed for solo halldorophone, halldorophone in duet with a second instrument and with ensemble.

Nicole Robson (UK) performed a study for solo (digital) halldorophone "Dual/duel/duet/for/with/halldorophone" at NIME (New Interfaces for Musical Expression conference) in 2020.[10]

Secondson (UK) performed at The National Museum of Wales for the improvised performance 8 with Super Furry Animals' Cian Ciaran, The Gentle Good and others on 19th August 2019 with the halldorophone. The very first live performance with halldorophone in the UK.

First UK performance of a halldorophone

Several composers of the Icelandic S.L.Á.T.U.R. collective have used halldorophones in their works ever since the Hljóðheimar exhibition in Reykjavík 2011.[11]

One of these composers Guðmundur Steinn Gunnarsson's (IS) suite for solo halldorophone "Hafið og Örninn" was premiered at Hljóðön concert series by finnish cellist Markus Hohti in 2015.[12] His chamber opera Einvaldsóður which was premiered on Sláturtíð 2017 [13] also makes an extended use of the halldorophone in a chamber music context. It was selected as one of the top 5 pieces of its decade in Aesthetics for Birds.[14]

Johan Svensson (SE) has composed two works for halldorophone and a second instrument:[15] Piece for halldorophone and viola (2012) Composition for DIMI-A and halldorophone [music and video] in collaboration with Halldór Úlfarsson (2014)

Timothy Page (US/FI) premiered 'Toccata" for halldorophone, clarinet, electronics at Nordic Music Days in Stockholm in 2012 [16]

Studio recordings[]

Halldorotones a collection of short pieces for solo halldorophone was released by Broken Strings Music in 2020.[17]

Secondson (UK) released "Suite for halldorophone and Synthi A" on 8th February 2021, a 21 minute long drone piece. He also released the solo halldorophone album "I'r Mynydd" on 28th October 2019 and the score "Tónlist frá: hér að neðan" on 1st October 2019 which features the halldorophone and Yamaha CS60 extensively.

The Icelandic electro-psychedelic-post-hip-hop-pop collective Cryptochrome (IS) released their Secondson (UK) produced EP "Love Life" on 2nd February 2020 which features the halldorophone on the song 'Kali.'

History[]

A halldorophone from 2014

The instrument was originally conceived of as a prop for performance art during Halldór's time as a visual arts student. Starting out as kind of a joke, he says, but in time developed into a functional string instrument for string players interested in working with feedback.[18]

References[]

  1. ^ "Revision of the Hornbostel-Sachs Classification of Musical Instruments by the MIMO Consortium".
  2. ^ a b "This strange instrument from Joker soundtrack was invented in Finland". Aalto University. Retrieved 2020-10-26.
  3. ^ https://blog.bela.io/2019/03/14/halldorophone-feedback-and-bela/
  4. ^ http://www.nime.org/proceedings/2018/nime2018_paper0058.pdf
  5. ^ Magnusson, T. (2019). Sonic writing: technologies of material, symbolic, and signal inscriptions. Bloomsbury Academic. Ch. 13
  6. ^ http://kitmonsters.com/blog/halldorophone-interview-with-creator-halldor-ulfarsson
  7. ^ https://www.mbl.is/folk/frettir/2020/02/10/aukinn_ahugi_a_dorofoni_eftir_sigurgongu_hildar/
  8. ^ https://www.npr.org/2019/10/03/766172923/composer-hildur-gu-nad-ttir-finds-the-humanity-in-joker
  9. ^ https://variety.com/2019/film/spotlight/awards-season-oscars-film-composers-tap-into-offbeat-inspirations-for-scores-1203404572/
  10. ^ a b https://nicolerobson.com/dual-duel-duet.html
  11. ^ https://www.listasafn.is/syningar/nr/293
  12. ^ https://gudmundursteinn.net/list-of-works/
  13. ^ http://www.slatur.is/slaturtid/slaturtid-2017/
  14. ^ https://aestheticsforbirds.com/2019/12/23/7-experts-rank-the-decades-top-5-in-music/
  15. ^ http://johansvensson.nu/works/
  16. ^ http://www.timothypage.net/works/electroacoustic/toccata
  17. ^ https://www.brokenstringsmusic.com/
  18. ^ Iceland University of the Arts receives a halldorophone - Kastljós News Segment, retrieved 2022-02-03

External links[]

Retrieved from ""