23.7. 1993 Vitoria-Gasteiz / Spain - World Federation of Music Therapy

notes potentiated (between one and sixty-four), the
relationship of those notes to one another (scales and
arpeggios), the articulation required to activate the note
(the dynamics of the movement in relation to the
sensor), and secondary information such as pitchbend
and modulation depth.
TRANSPOSE settings allow semitonal modulation of the
scales contained within the beam, useful where the
beam is played alongside other electronic or acoustic
instruments.
Up to three add-on 'Slave' units can be attached to the
basic system. Thus it is possible to have four beams,
each of different length, each angled in a different
plane, and each with its own sound or 'voice'.
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In a sense, Soundbeam is a highly sophisticated
development of the selected-scale musical activity
which is commonplace in many junior and special
educational contexts (4), but it does so in a way which
introduces a radical element of compositional and
improvisational freedom, whilst at the same time
encouraging expressive movement.
In addition to the ten resident Soundbeam 'memories' it
is also possible to load a user-defined sequence of
notes into the beam. This has the benefit of enabling a
considerable degree of compositional exploration
without the necessity for a commensurate level of
keyboard skill: an idea can be programmed in at the
user's pace and then performed in real time with dance
or simple movement.