Instrument beginning of ‘huge robot orchestra’

Guitars, bassoons and tambourines may be headed the way of Betamax.

Three University of Virginia graduate students have built a robot that performs avant-garde musical compositions.

"This is the first instrument in what will one day become a huge robot orchestra," said Troy Rogers, one of the device's designers. "It will begin to dominate the global soundscape."

Officially known as the Autonomous String Performing Instrument, the robot is roughly 3 feet long and features two guitar strings, which are strung across its length and rhythmically hammered by its plastic "fingers" to produce sounds. Two pickups detect the notes, and the resulting music is then blasted out of Marshall amplifiers.

The three students - all of whom are pursuing doctorate degrees in music composition and computing technologies at UVa - write their songs in a computer program that provides the robot with its musical instructions.

When fired up, it sounds a bit like a dulcimer being played by a frantic free-form jazz musician.

"It has personality," said Scott Barton, another of its designers.

What sort of personality-

"Caffeinated," he said.

Most musical robots that have been built so far have sought to recreate human musical performances. For example, a robo-instrument might play a classical music piece.

Steven Kemper, also a designer of the UVa robot, said his team members were not interested in such novelty. They wanted a robot instrument that was something entirely new and was capable of playing cutting-edge compositions never before heard.

"We're fully interested in what we can do creatively - not Bach or rock-and-roll," he said. "We wanted something new."

The Autonomous String Performing Instrument drew a crowd Wednesday night at the Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative as part of a month-long celebration of sound.

Called "Audio January," the event has showcased experimental sound performances by rock bands, radio documentarians and music derived from found instruments, including wine glasses, a kitchen table and a sofa.

It all culminates on the night of Jan. 26, when music enthusiasts will spend the night at the arts center listening to live and recorded ambient music and waking up the following morning to a breakfast of vegan pancakes.

"We've dedicated the whole month to sound," Bridge organizer Greg Antrim Kelly said. "It ranges from live noise-rock performances to Steve's and his friends' robot."

The designers of the Autonomous String Performing Instrument seem somewhat bewildered at the interest in their musical robot.

"For some reason, people are really interested when I tell them about this project," Kemper said.

Though they built it, the three designers are still figuring out the capabilities of the Autonomous String Performing Instrument.

"We're just learning this instrument ourselves," Barton said. "We're learning what it can do."

Though it took the designers a year to finish up work on the Autonomous String Performing Instrument, they intend to build more robot instruments, including a drum-bot and a robo-wind instrument.

"We've caught the bug," Rogers said. "Right now, our little device is getting a little lonely in this world. We'd like to increase the number of its brethren."