Max Addae is a regular volunteer with New Harmony Line who has mentored kids at Hyperscore workshops at the Boston Children’s Museum and UP Academy. He also oversees the team that is creating a brand-new musical experience at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, which will feature a room-size version of Hyperscore. The Dallas installation opens to the public next month.
Max is also an inventor. A recent graduate from Tod Machover’s Opera of the Future group at the M.I.T. Media Lab, Max created VocalCords for his masters thesis. His invention won First Place at the 2024 Guthman Musical Instrument Competition at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
VocalCords “explores the design of a new digital music interface inviting tactile interaction and performance with the singing voice,” Max explains. “The interface makes use of physical rubber cords, acting as stretch sensors, which are pulled and manipulated by the hands of the singer as they vocalize to augment and modify their voice in real-time – as if they were able to physically ‘touch’ their own vocal cords. This approach allows for expressive, tactile control over the singing voice, which suggests a striking relationship between physical and musical tension. Through a series of prototyping iterations and a public performance with the interface, I explore the potential of touch-mediated vocal performance, as well as how this added tactile interaction may alter our experience with, and perception of, our singing voices.”
Machover, head of the Opera of the Future research group, noted, “From the very first time that Max showed me the initial concept for VocalCords, I could see that he had found a uniquely powerful and personal way to combine his singing, composing, computing, and performing skills. The mature system is so effective because it unleashes both the expressivity and the fragility of the human voice in ways that are simultaneously simple and profound. I am so proud of Max for winning first prize in the prestigious Guthman Competition, the only award in the world for visionary musical instrument design, and can’t wait to see how he continues to develop VocalCords for his own artistic purposes and also so that others—and especially young people—can experience the joy of vocal creativity and discovery.”
Max’s achievement is a great example of the motivation and ingenuity that is in the DNA of Hyperscore and so many other inventions coming out of the Opera of the Future group. We’re proud to be part of the family!
Here’s a CBS news story about the 2024 Guthman prize.