NIME 2014 (New Interfaces for Musical Expression)

Whitechapel Development 

Whitechapel Development is an introspective, live duet for theremin and augmented handbells. Percussionists have always exploited damping and movement to shape the long tail of a bell strike (for instance by creating Doppler shift). Here, bells have been fitted with real-time orientation and proximity sensors so their sounds can be manipulated further - their long tail becomes as malleable as the sustained notes of a theremin (their sound is processed using Max/MSP). As the players swap gestures to control their own and each others' sounds, these two disparate instruments become strangely and closely coupled to one another, both sonically and gesturally, to mesmerising effect. The piece is performed and devised by Sarah Angliss and Stephen Hiscock.