The Human-Organ-Concert  Jo Caimo Apr 2015 -

The Human Respiration Instrument (HRI) registers the air when breathing in and out through the mouth or nose and converts it into four different tones. A recording of a first performance with an analog prototype developed by myself can be found on the "Human Respiration Music" cassette tape. Meanwhile, I developed a digital prototype.
During my residency at Overtoon I will investigate how to connect these HRI with an output device, preferably a pipe organ, an instrument that produces sound by air. I also want to research and develop a mechanism that strikes the keys of the keyboard. The four options during breathing that are registered by the HRI will be sent wirelessly to the mechanism, which then plays the keys autonomous and produces four different sounds out of the the organ. Multiple HRI's will lead to the production of an abundance of tones on the organ. A swarm of sound.
By connecting the HRI on an output instrument, the HRI functions as an extension of the human body. Thereby arise new possibilities of interpersonal communication. The idea of a musical ensemble is a recurring theme in my work. My ultimate goal is to let the audience be performers as well, changing the conventional parameters of a concert. With music performances and concerts there are a whole series of conventions regarding the experiences of time and space, and also of the position of the public and its behavior.
The acoustic format - where to place the organ and where and in what way the public relates to the organ – is part of the process that I will enter. It depends entirely on the space, the number of people, the organ, the social structure and context.
One possible option could be: The pipe organ – that I will search together with a presentation partner - will be placed in a large empty space, a remnant of an industrial past. Visitors will get the instructions to put on the HRI. Because all HRI are connected with the pipe organ, breathing music will fill the space and the visitors will naturally play a role in the Human-organ concert by simply breathing.
All visitors will be connected with each other on the spot. Purely through their breathing they will form a spontaneous creative community, and thus symbolize the transition from a material to a non-material world.