I’m sad to report that composer and artist Nam June Paik died Sunday evening January 29 at his home in Miami. The funeral will be this Friday here in New York; information at the Nam June Paik Website. Contributions can be sent to Electronic Arts Intermix, the nonprofit arts organization devoted to digital art and interactive media. (via Tom and extremeNY

Paik was born in South Korea and went on to become a ground-breaking composer, electronic musician, video and media artist. Probably no 20th Century artist had as profound an impact on the medium of video, from magnetic experiments on TVs to constructing video sculptures and influential video synthesizers, all of us who work in video and motion graphics as an artist medium owe a debt to Mr. Paik.

Condolences to his family, friends, and all the artists in many media he’s touched over the years.

Open Labs is slowly teasing out the specs of a new portable music device called the MiKo, promising a complete portable workstation for everything from DJing to music production to VJing and . . . podcasting? The company won’t make a full announcement until the NAMM trade show later this month in Anaheim; in the meantime they’re releasing weekly updates, so it’s a little like watching a press release as a miniseries. But you can make a smart guess based on Open Labs’ previous products, all of which involve Windows PCs packed into music keyboard form factors. If you read the site carefully, you’ll also notice Open Labs says it has an audio interface and VGA port, and calls it a “standalone home theater PC.” I’ve also put together some additional specs on the MiKo after the break.

You wear it on your shoulder, but it’s not a guitar. It’s a US$425 MIDI controller, powered by SONAR and photocell sensors for Theremin-like control in the air. It could be none other than the latest creation from instrument builder Tony Amendolare, aka ElectroKraft.

You might have seen this instrument in November (see post and discussion on Music thing from when I was on vacation), but since then Tony has posted some video files. (Still more discussion: GetLoFi) It’s a lot easier to follow how the thing works in the video, and as for the spacey lab coats and welder’s masks, well, costumes just help add atmosphere:

Performance demonstrations by Dr. Modulus [QuickTime videos]

Audio sample [MP3]

The sound file is particularly stunning: the genius of the instrument is that it sends cascades of synth notes and percussion, either triggered as discrete events by tapping the, erm, globe, or as continuous series of notes by moving your hand through the air relative to the SONAR sensor. [Read the full description]

It’s a great demonstration of how changing the interface is more than just a gimmick: it can change the way your music sounds. You might be able to play something like this on a keyboard or MIDI guitar, but you’d be limited in live control and it would require a lot of trickery. And, of course, this model sends MIDI — so it’d be a blast to hook up to Logic’s Sculpture, Max/MSP, or Reaktor (among others). As usual, more is coming: Tony promises a model with rhythmic sequencing features.

Previously:

ElectroKraft Lunar Module: Spacey Handmade “Optical Theremin” Photocell Controller

Space Invaders Invades Synth, Guitar
Space Box: Theremin + Effects Box
Axe*Synth Theremin Guitar