Istanbul is the 2010 European Capital of Culture. KUKA robots form part of one of the many and varied projects that are impressing people from all over the world in a summer of culture on the Bosphorus.
The Turkish computer musician and sound artist Sinan Bokesoy has teamed up with KUKA Roboter to realize an exceptional sound installation.
From 2 August 2010, two KUKA robots have been on display making music with percussion instruments at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökcen Airport. But there is more than meets the eye to this installation, which is entitled “1 city, 1001 vibrations”. Using two microphones situated directly on the Bosphorus, Sinan Bokesoy captures sounds that are typical for Istanbul: the foghorns of the large ships, the screeching of the seagulls, the muezzin’s call to prayer. These sounds are processed by a special program and transformed into vibrations to which the KUKA robots then react. The robots take ten seconds to decide which percussion instruments to play to the sound. In this way, a fascinating and constantly changing soundscape is created: a mixture of the real sounds of the city and the robot-generated sound of drums and cymbals.
On 20 September, Sinan Bokesoy and twelve other musicians will give a concert with the KUKA robots in the grand Çırağan Palace Kempinski. The color orange seems to be dominating the European Capital of Culture that is Istanbul…