Maybe Jarre can use this one day...
The DailyIllini.com is reporting that a musical invention that has been used to create sound effects and alien sounds, alien voices and background ambience in such films as Superman Returns and Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds will be used to make actual music on the Indy 4 soundtrack.
University engineering professor Lippold Haken's musical invention, the Continuum Fingerboard, will be used in the soundtrack of the fourth Indiana Jones movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
Created by the University professor, the Continuum Fingerboard is an electronic piano keyboard that uses sensors to detect every motion of the player's fingers. In addition to pushing down notes, the player can slide his or her fingers across the instrument.
For example, sliding fingers up or down the keys can increase or decrease the volume. Sliding fingers left or right will allow for seamless transition from note to note as one could do on a violin.
"I like the Continuum keyboard because it's very expressive. It's like a wind instrument," said Mark Smart, local musician and Engineering student who plays the Continuum.
The instrument can also be programmed to have different tones or effects ranging from melodic to grungy to psychedelic. It can modify the sound to mimic different instruments such as guitar, saxophone, organ, or percussion.
"It's like playing three or four instruments at the same time. ...The range of sounds is practically infinite," Smart said.
Randy Kerber, Academy Award-nominated movie soundtrack composer, has incorporated the instrument into songs he wrote for the latest edition to the Indiana Jones tetralogy, which is set to debut May 22. The music will be performed in collaboration with John Williams, composer of the Star Wars theme song. According to the Internet Movie Database, Kerber has played and orchestrated music for numerous other box-office hits such as X-Men III, Troy and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
According to Haken, the Continuum has been used in other movies such as War of the Worlds and Superman Returns for background ambiance. However, it was not yet been used in music for movies.
"It was used mainly for sound effects. You know alien sounds, alien voices, things like that. That's very different than using it for actual music in Indiana Jones," Haken said.
We will have to hear what all this sounds like when Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull opens on May 22nd.
Picture :
http://www.hakenaudio.com/Continuum/
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mrmp2EaVChI
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