Remarks about Tod Machover In Presenting the 2003 Ray Kurzweil Award of Technology in Music
Ray Kurzweil presented the 2003 Ray Kurzweil Award of Technology in Music to Tod Machover at the Fourth Annual Telluride Tech Festival (August 8-10, 2003). The award was in recognition of Machover's pioneering research at the MIT Media Lab in music technology, such as "hyperinstruments," as well as his achievements as composer and performer.
Published on KurzweilAI.net August 10, 2003, based on an award
presentation at the Fourth
Annual Telluride Tech Festival.
It's a great pleasure for me to present—albeit virtually—the
2003 Ray Kurzweil Award of Technology in Music to Tod
Machover.
I've known Tod for over a decade through our mutual ties to the
MIT Media Lab. Every time our paths cross, I am reminded how unique
Tod is in the extraordinary range of his contributions. He is the
only person I am aware of who contributes on a world-class level
to both the technology of music creation and to music itself. Even
within these two distinct areas, Tod's contributions are remarkably
diverse, and of exquisite quality.
The Los Angeles Times calls Tod Machover "America's most
wired composer." "Brilliantly gifted" says the New
York Times. The New Yorker calls him "one of the most innovative
and imaginative composers around."
In the area of music technology, perhaps his best known invention
is that of "hyperinstruments," created at the MIT Media
Lab, where he was one of the founders. Hyperinstruments are computer-based
instruments that add their own intelligence to their human users.
The idea is to use sensors to pick up the human musician's intent,
and then augment and enhance the sounds created using the computer
software's own intelligence. This augmentation affects the tonal
qualities produced as well as the actual note sequences played.
The effect is so compelling that hyperinstruments have been used
by a wide array of musicians, from Yo-Yo Ma to Peter Gabriel and
Prince. Beyond the immediate impact of the instruments is the very
important concept of building instruments that allow the intimate
interplay of both human and computer intelligence.
Other projects include systems that allow non-musicians to create
music and music games to teach music to children.
On the music creation front, Tod is both an eminently gifted composer
and performer. His music has been commissioned by many leading institutions,
such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, The San Francisco Symphony,
Lincoln Center, and the Tokyo String Quartet. He has received many
honors for his music, including France's highest cultural honor
and the first DigiGlobe Prize in Interactive Media from the German
government.
I had the pleasure of hearing recently his fifth opera, called
Resurrection, which was a beautiful and moving experience. Resurrection
is particularly interesting because it is a compelling synthesis
of classical forms and contemporary sounds. His unique interactive
"Brain Opera," which combines Tod's interest in both music
technology and music content, has recently been permanently installed
at Vienna's House of Music.
I could go on for a long time describing all of Tod's innovations
in music technology and music itself, but I think you get the idea.
It is a special honor for me to present this first award to a uniquely
creative individual.
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