Recently there have been many intricate and fascinating MIDI powered tools popping up on the internet for the public’s discovery and purchase. From the QuNexus to the AlphaSphere and the MusixCube, these machine-musical instrument combinations have become a popular source of inspiration for engineers and artists alike, each able to defy today’s existing conventions of structure, science, and sound.
The Dualo, also referred to as “Dualo du-touch,” is no different in that last respect, also being a MIDI controller/instrument but entirely different in just about every other sense. The examples above experiment with physical form and/or performance execution re-imagined though unexpected trigger arrangement, manipulation and response (e.g. with touch sensitive pads, LEDs). The Dualo also uses LEDs and pressure sensors on its five octave, hexagonal ‘keyboard’ interface but, the reasoning behind how its keys are organized is rooted in an entirely uncommon harmonic principle, from which the instrument’s name, functionality and the company of its production, is derived.
Jules Hotrique is the man behind this concept, which he calls, “The Dualo Principle.” As Hotrique describes in a detailed booklet, (Note: linked text is in French) this principle “is based on the fundamentals of tonal harmony and inspired by the African thumb piano.” Translated below from Dualo’s homepage, are outlines of the main benefits to using this new tonal focus:
- Facilitates the learning of musical technique: a chord = a design. Two designs are a scale.
- Facilitates improvisation: keys that sound good are next to each other.
- Accelerates learning music theory: the writing of chords, of scales, and degrees become lines and geometric shapes, [they] become easy to memorize and play.
- Facilitates practical fingerings: for scales and chords are the same in all keys.
- Allows great virtuosity: the alternation of both hands and the layout of notes, [one] can play very quickly with great precision.
- Facilitates the reading of notes: notes on staff lines are played by one hand, notes on spaces by the other hand. The simplified notation is in this way the traditional scope.
Design Nimos is the company behind Dualo’s design and as described on the “instruments” section of Dualo’s website, the keyboard was designed using “a mathematical model [geometrically representing] musical harmony…it shows degrees of the scale better than on a guitar or [with] piano chords, by equating [them] to simple geometric shapes.” The Dualo’s other technical specifications include:
- 6.35mm jack for line output
- Standard 3.5mm amplified headphone jack,
- 5-pin MIDI DIN connector
- USB port, compatible with PCs and Macs.
Packing a memory bank of 116 instruments and multi-effect capability, as well as motion controllers that detect movement of the whole instrument, Hotrique believes the Dualo “opens the way to new musical gestures and unmatched stage presence.”
Most recently, the Dualo was demoed and discussed yesterday, during the first of a three day event titled, “Forum 2.0 – Workshops at the Forum,” which is hosted by IRCAM (Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics and Music), a Paris-based institute and research center devoted to work revolving around music, science and avant-garde exploration.
Below is a clip of Hotrique himself playing the Dualo:
Kira is an old school music nerd with a love for all things creative; always searching for music’s common ground. She graduated with an M.A. in Performing Arts Administration from New York University. Drop her a tweet @shadowmelody1
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