The perfect symbiosis
Developers, companies, and enthusiastic musicians develop new digital musical instruments, controllers, or virtual instruments every year to create new possibilities for expression. The situation is different for classical musical instrument manufacturers, who often have centuries of history and are less concerned with the digital possibilities of today. Musicians themselves have long been searching for new ways to better fuse acoustic instruments with electronics. Until now, however, in most cases the acoustic source of the instrument has been recorded, e.g. using a microphone, analyzed, and then processed and played back. But things look different as soon as you try to synchronize more complex processes with the playing and, for example, control individual parameters of the sound design live using an instrument. In the edu-tech sector, too, many companies aim to analyze the audio signal alone and extract information from it. Many, but not all.
Digitaize takes a completely new approach and uses a unique sensor system developed in-house to determine playing data from musical instruments in real-time.
How it came to life
“Our primary concern was not the development of new sounds, but the transfer of the expressive possiblities of acoustic instruments into the digital world” says musician Alessandro Baticci, currently product manager for Digitaize at C. Bechstein Digital.
Alessandro, together with Rafal Zalech developed this technology to empower musicians with new tools for creativity. Both are instrumentalists, composers, active internationally in the field of contemporary music and Digitaize was born out of an artistic necessity, to find a better blend of acoustic instruments with the electronics.
Digitaize technology expands the acoustic instrument and allows for it to live on in the future. It does not want to be a simplification of it. Moreover, this digital translation also requires a deeper acoustic exploration of the instrument. In this respect at Digitaize we speak of a neo-humanistic mission. On the road to total digitalisation, we are adding those areas that characterise us in our human nature and which are unique to us, such as art and music instrument traditions.
Innovations in instrument making have always initiated a lot of things. And in the last 200 years, apart from the electric violin, there has been no major change in the world of string instruments. Our technology makes it possible for the first time to digitize the acoustic instrument without having to make any compromises regarding playability. We have been working on the development of this system over the last five years, thinking about every aspect: playability, assembly, maintenance, feature, coupling, compatibility. How one uses it, is then up to each and every one. Our aim is to create the widest possible range of options.
Rafal talks about his passion for Digitaize and how it came to being.
About Rafal Zalech:
Rafal Zalech’s artistic activities are widely spread between performance, composition and development of IoT devices for musicians. As a violist he played on most renewed new music festivals on 5 continents, many solo appearances with orchestras such as Webern Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, Divertimento. A member of The Black Page Orchestra. Between 2010-2021 Zalech intensively worked with one of the most recognised Ensembles for New Music – Klangforum Wien with which he played over 100 concerts. In 2022 Zalech received the prestigious Erste Bank Komposition Preis for his lifetime artistic achievements. Since 2022 Rafal is working as Technical Manager at Digitaize by C. Bechstein Digital.
Alessandro Baticci talks about his job as Product Manager and what makes Digitaize special
About Alessandro Baticci: Alessandro Baticci work is at the interception of music and technology.
As a composer, flautist and electroacoustic performer, Alessandro has been active internationally in the field of contemporary music and sound art. Alessandro is also serial entrepreneur, inventor and product designer. He developed various electro-acoustical instruments, digital control and mapping systems, sound libraries, and Digitaize is the technology he is most passionate about. Alessandro has been invited to hold lectures and workshops in various universities across the world. He pursued studies in composition, flute, sound engineering as well as multimedia art in Milan, Vienna and Graz. Since 2022 Alessandro is working as Product Manager at Digitaize by C. Bechstein Digital.