DIY and instrument-making can be about tinkering and inventing. But it can also be about finding one instrument for your performance and iterating over the long term. That’s what Kacper Ziemianin, aka Ctrl Freq, has done with this “Light-Sequencer” instrument (LSe) – and it’s just reached a breakthrough third hardware version with an accompanying live show.
Kacper is making a couple of other gadgets he sells on Etsy, but his main axe is the LSe. He sent the first proof of concept to CDM back in 2013; then it was “just a panel with light sensors connected to a laptop,” he says. Proper LSe hardware was born in 2016, and he’s been working on the device – and refining his live show – ever since. This is now the third major release, “v3.14.”
LSe is an ensemble of three devices: a sensor panel with 32 light-sensitive resistors you use for controlling sound, a light sequencer with 8 smart LEDs for devising rhythms, and then a control panel. The control panel, in turn, has sections for mixing, effects, sound control, and sequencing.
Since it’s light-sensitive, you do need near-total darkness for reliable operation. Kacper describes both the device and himself as being recluse, prone to darkness, and preferring not to be photographed. I’m sure a lot of us can relate. But we get a rough sense here. Here’s the teaser for the latest; more performances at bottom:
Specs:
- Raspberry Pi, Pure Data (Pd), and Arduino
- Ableton Link with Wifi and Ethernet
- Multiple sequencer modes
- 32-voice polyphony
- Five sound generators: synth (additive, subtractive 3rd-octave filter), sample (granular time-stretch, looper), and resonant ping filter with scale selection (classic, experimental, microtuning,etc.)
- Audio input and output
- Five sound effects channels per generator/eternal audio: light-controlled delay, variable state filter, amplitude modulation/distortion, FM, and granular reverb. (All but the granular reverb also have their own LFO)
- Light-controlled gate.
I think that’s about as feature-maxed as I’ve seen the Raspberry Pi platform. I think it has more functionality than gadgets like Ableton Move, and it’s all developed by just one person. But impressively, it’s had a great performance life, too, including appearances at Unsound in Kraków, Sofia Experimental Festival, the Dutch Gogboth Festival, and more. (It debuted at Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven.)