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Musical robots take stage in Souers

Dana Jessen and Michael Strauss, members of the Electro Acoustic Reed Duo, performed alongside a robitically plucked guitar chord and an electronic clarinet.
Dana Jessen and Michael Strauss, members of the Electro Acoustic Reed Duo, performed alongside a robitically plucked guitar chord and an electronic clarinet.

Billy Rafael, For The Miami Student

Dana Jessen and Michael Strauss, members of the Electro Acoustic Reed Duo, performed alongside a robitically plucked guitar chord and an electronic clarinet. (MIKE ZATT | The Miami Student)

Wednesday, Miami University hosted quite an unusual musical act. Michael Straus and Dana Jessen, members of the EAR (Electro Acoustic Reed) Duo, performed a six-song set in Souers Recital Hall accompanied by only a pair of robots.

Known as MARIE (Monochord-Aerophone Robotic Instrument Ensemble), two devices joined the Duo. AMI (Automated Monochord Instrument) is a string robot consisting of a single guitar chord that can be plucked, fretted and dampened. CARI (Cylindrical Aerophone Robotic Instrument) is an electronic clarinet.

Each robot also provides a light show, constantly glowing and changing colors.

The robots are the design of Troy Rogers, a doctoral student at the University of Virginia.

Rogers comes from a rock band background but was drawn to musical robotics because of their endless possibilities. To help fund the robots, Rogers launched an online donation campaign that proved to be very successful. According to Rogers, the instruments are still works in progress, but are completely functional.

The EAR Duo describes their music as experimental, and rightfully so, as their act is one of a kind.

"This is sort of uncharted territory," Jessen said. "It's much different than working with a chamber ensemble. If an oboe breaks during rehearsal, you don't have to start soldering things together."

Technical difficulties are a constant concern for the group. As they started their performance Wednesday, Rogers had to run on stage to adjust some wires on one of the robots.

Every piece the group performed had a unique element. The first began with AMI emitting a loud hum that filled the hall before Straus and Jessen came in on the saxophone and bassoon respectively. The music was loud, often dissonant and sometimes uncomfortable to the audience, but came together at times for beautiful moments of harmony.

While the first several songs were preprogrammed for the instruments, the third varied in that it was a collaboration between the performers and robots. Using an algorithm designed by Rogers, both devices were able to track the pitches being produced by Straus and Jessen and improvise based on what they were hearing. The result was like something out of a science fiction movie.

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Another highlight of the performance was an original composition by Jessen that featured an interactive piano keyboard. Both performers took a seat as the projector displayed a text box and a computer keyboard on the screen. Jessen explained that each letter had a corresponding sound, some phonetic to the letter while others were completely random. As text "wrote" itself on the screen, it produced a song made entirely out of the sounds, all of which were homemade by Jessen's voice. The text being written was a description of the qualities a particular person would have if they were an animal, but repeating certain words over and over for a comical effect that had the audience chuckling. Also in attendance was Peter Swendsen, an electronic music composer commissioned by the EAR Duo to write for their group. The piece of his performed was "Northern Circles," inspired by the summer solstice in the Arctic Circle.

"The song requires performers to make creative decisions while playing," Swendsen said.

Accompanying the piece was a video to emulate the tease of a sun that never sets.

While their current robots are still prototypes, the group has big plans for MARIE. They would eventually like to have four of each of the original robots, along with a slew of other robotic instruments. One of interest is a miniature drum kit that can fit in a briefcase.

"In the future we'd like to put out a rock EP with the robots and start touring, performing in rock clubs across the country," Rogers said. "We're trying to reintroduce the physical aspect to electronic music."

The EAR Duo's visit was sponsored by the Miami University Music Department and the Armstrong Institute for Interactive Media Studies.