UCF professor Scott F. Hall will combine music and the emerging world of 3-D printing Friday night when he performs on some unconventional instruments at the 3D Print Design Show in New York.
Hall and a senior art student will perform on 3-D printed instruments ranging from the lute-shaped “monobaribasitar” to the sharply angled “piezoelectric violin.”
Hall, a professor of art and design, co-designed the instruments with Eric Goldemberg, an architecture professor at Florida International University, and Veronica Zalcberg, both of Miami’s MONAD Studio. The instruments were created using computer modeling, printing and milling.
“While we’ve proven it is possible to undertake radical, experimental remaking of ancient instrument forms, we’ve also shown that computer-mediation in making allows for very new forms to continue to produce beloved old sounds — and certainly some new sounds, too,” Hall said. “ I think beyond these artful and beautiful extremes of shape-making in software, there is an exciting future coming with regard to the specific composition of materials used in the prints themselves.”
Two of the instruments Hall will play at the show are what he calls “hornucopians,” different sizes of electric didgeridos that produce music with a “sonic character involving a gradual build-up of looping atmospheric sound.”
He’ll also play the fretless “monobaribasitar”— a contraction of the words “single-stringed baritone/bass guitar,” and the “monovioloncello,” a cello-style creation he designed last year.
The violin will be played by Brandy Moulden of Orlando, a former student of Hall’s and now a professional musician, who praises the instrument’s form and function.
“Every plane and edge has been made to naturally contour to its player with no additional accessories – in the case of the violin there is no need for an added shoulder rest,” she said. “(The) violin is extremely lightweight, so its player can jam as long as they like with little to no fatigue compared to playing a traditional violin.”
The sounds from the designs that mimic traditional instruments are as good as the originals, the musicians say, and the other new designs can create some new and different musical tones.
Hall does his design work in his Merritt Island studio and in the labs and sculpture studios of UCF’s School of Visual Arts & Design at UCF, which, along with engineering programs at the university, he said “are rapidly expanding to become the true nexus for 21st century research, design, and fabrication” for 3-D in Central Florida.
After months of design and preliminary tests, each of the instruments takes three to four days to print, depending on the complexity. He said the value of the violin, for example, is about $2,500, however production costs are shrinking, which will encourage more 3-D design work on all types of projects.
“The $30,000 device I printed sculpture with 15 years ago can be acquired new in 2015 for just a few thousand,” he said. “In fact, some 3-D printers cost under $1,000 now and are as easy to purchase online as that inkjet printer sitting on your desk at home.”
The 3D Print Design Show is part of 3D Print Week NY, which showcases the design capabilities of 3-D printing with hands-on exhibits and interactive displays of architecture, fashion, interior design and consumer goods.