Modular giant with online control, as well as textile and knitted keyboards Joe Paradiso

This time we will talk about the creator of the world’s largest modular synthesizer, built at home, an employee of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Joseph Paradiso (Joseph Paradiso) and some of his developments. I think it would not be a mistake to assert that Paradiso, to some extent, has continued the case of Robert Mug, as well as companies such as Roland, if we talk about the creation of modular synthesizers. Unlike Mug, he did not make a business out of it, but concentrated on constructing a personal concept, which over time became one of the largest modular synthesizers in the world and a kind of standard for this type of musical instrument with constantly expanding capabilities.


How it all began

Since childhood, Joseph Paradiso has shown an interest in music and electronics. He grew up in a creative environment, his father was a cameraman, thanks to this Joseph got access to a variety of studio equipment. At school, Joseph Paradiso showed abilities in physics and mathematics, which ultimately determined his life path – he became a scientist, researcher and teacher.

The history of one of the largest modular synthesizers began in 1975 at the Zurich Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), where he studied young Paradiso.

The young student was passionate about progressive rock and experimenting with analog synthesizers that were widely used at that time. In particular, the legendary Moog.

Paradiso was impressed by the concept of a modular analog synthesizer, and he decided to independently create such a device. After creating the next module of the device, it seemed to Joseph that this was not enough and he was taken for the next oscillator, filter or sequencer. Rosin haze and countless radio elements have become a constant companion of a Zurich student.

Scientist and synthesizer creator

By the time Paradiso completed his studies in Zurich, his synthesizer totaled more than 70 modules. As the scientist himself described it: “My attitude was constantly growing, like a house from King’s novel“ The Red Rose Mansion ”.

The creation of a modular colossus slowed down only in 1984, when Paradiso became an employee of the Draper Laboratory, where he participated in the development of control systems for spacecraft, sonars for underwater vehicles, fractal image processing algorithms and high-precision sensors. Relatively little is known about this period of the scientist’s life.

MIT and new features

However, it is known that in 1994 he changed his job and got a job at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he works at Media Lab. Responsive Environments research team is currently engaged in sensor networks using artificial intelligence technology. Meanwhile, the new place of work of Paradiso was closely connected with the musical research of the scientist. At Massachusetts Technological, he continued to work on a synthesizer in parallel with his core business.

At the moment, the engineer has brought the number of modules to 100. The device is recognized as one of the richest in the possibilities of analog synthesis and analog signal processing. The synthesizer uses 15 generators of eight types and more than 80 various filters, effects, reverbs and other modules. The giant Paradiso is recognized as the world’s largest modular synthesizer, created at home. A complete list is available here. paradiso.media.mit.edu/modlist.html.

Remote mode

One of the institute’s projects was multi-user access to a synthesizer with online control. So the synthesizer moved to the science center (Science and Fusion Center MIT), where it is located until now. Joe Paradiso and his students jointly created the PatchWerk web application with hardware that allows you to control the synthesizer online.


panel to control the synthesizer on the site synth.media.mit.edu/patchwerk

The project was temporary, over a week more than 40,000 people used the synthesizer. At the moment, you cannot use the onlan device, but the site and the application guide are available, which gives us hope that resuming access is possible in the near future.

Textile and knitted keyboards

The laboratory, led by Paradiso, has developed two more unique musical projects. These are flexible and soft MIDI keyboards that open up new possibilities for sound production.

In these projects, Paradiso and his staff are trying to move away from the traditional concept of musical instruments and traditional methods of sound production using atypical materials. So, they created flexible textile and knitted keyboards that offer many interesting ways of sound production.

FabricKeyboard and KnittedKeyboard are tools made from multilayer textile and knitted gauges, respectively. They are made in the form of keyboards with piano keys, as well as additional touch elements.

Textile and knitted materials are able to electrically respond to touch, pressure, stretching, approaching an object (like theremin) and exposure to an electric field. Thus, the instruments allow you to play music in the same way as on a regular dynamic or static keyboard, as well as change sounds using a variety of manipulations with sensory tissue, for example, twisting or stretching, compressing it with equal intensity and frequency, as well as producing non-contact passes at different distances from the material.

So, stretching allows you to get an effect similar to the action of the Wah-Wah guitar pedal, and the proximity sensor can be adjusted to change the amplitude or modulation.

In conclusion

I rarely have to write in a biographical cycle about my contemporaries, as happened with Joe Paradiso. I sincerely hope that his creative potential and interest in musical devices have not run out, and that I will be able to write more material about his new devices. In addition to musical developments on the account of this talented scientist and his colleagues, there are promising developments in the field of robotics, projects related to space exploration and simplification of human life on earth, in particular, “Moon Village”, “Space Man”, “Rovables”, “Skinbot” and many others etc. I would be grateful for opinions on the possibilities of commercial use of textile and knitted keyboards. I welcome the vanging regarding the timing of the serial implementation of such devices.

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