The Stereo Field is an intriguing box of synthesized tricks which contains mirrored stereo circuits that are manipulated through touch. When a player's skin touches plates on the upper surface, points on the circuits are connected and new signal paths or patches created in a kind of organized chaos, resulting in strange sounds and bizarre effects. Interestingly, different players have the potential to produce uniquely personal results due to differences in technique and skin conductivity.
"The Stereo Field exists in a sort of general celebration of doing things wrong and the kind of liberation that comes with that territory," explains its maker. The pre-production prototype shows four knobs center top flanked by banks of jacks and touch squares. Under that section are a pair of colliding 7-band discs, with intersections creating smaller touch zones.
The purpose of the golden touch plates is to create new connections and patch points to alter the texture, imaging and timbre of the sonic output depending on where the player's fingers are positioned on the touch zones. The plates are said to be directly connected to points on the mirrored analog circuits within the enclosure.
Touch tinkering can add distortion to the signal, squeeze it through filters, create feedback, generate rhythms, modulate frequency and amplitude, adjust stereo panning and more, but can also create something inbetween. In addition to rocking its own sounds, the Stereo Field can be used to process fed-in audio or mess with external hardware.
And, about that personal touch ... Landscape says that "every individual has their own personal skin conductivity and body capacitance values which will inform how 'patching' of the instrument allows for new paths for the circuit to follow."
The source link below offers some interesting demos that show the device being used in different operation modes, including one where tones are triggered by breathing on the plates. The Stereo Field is currently up for pre-order, priced at US$380. Shipping is expected to start next month.
Source: Landscape
