We are collaborators on the Mi.Mu Gloves project. This was initiated by musician and Drake Music advocate Imogen Heap to create a new piece of music technology which would allow her to play electronic equipment in a more expressive way.
What are Mi.Mu Gloves?
The gloves allow the wearer to control instruments and computers live on stage simply by using hand gestures and arm movements.
“They help me to gesturally interact with my computer so I can make music on the move, in the flow, and more humanly, more naturally” Imogen Heap speaking to Dezeen in 2014
Imogen has put together an astonishing team of technologists, scientists, coders and makers who have developed the gloves over the past 3 years. In December 2014, Drake Music became one of 15 international collaborators working to explore and push this technology forward.
We are working with the team and other collaborators to explore the potential of this piece of technology to be used as a piece of accessible music technology for disabled musicians.
Who is involved in the project?
In 2014 Drake Music were approached by professional musician Kris Halpin to explore the development of a new accessible musical instrument.
Kris has Cerebral Palsy and over the past few years it has become apparent that the progression of his condition will lead to a gradual loss of ability to play guitar and piano.
While his existing use of music technology as a record producer will ensure that Kris is still able to express his creative vision in one way, this will leave an obvious gap with regards to expressive and performance-based music-making.
Kris’s approach to Drake Music coincided with our decision to become collaborators in the development of the Mi.Mu Gloves, and so it seemed a natural fit to ask Kris to work closely with us to test and try out the gloves.
Kris is central to the hands-on use and exploration of the instrument’s capabilities, limitations and potential.
Find out more
- Keep up with developments by following the Drake Music blog and our Research & Development twitter account – @drakemusicRandD
- See the gloves in action on our Mi.Mu Gloves Youtube playlist
- Follow Kris’ progress on his blog as he tests and experiments with using the gloves
- Read more about Mi.Mu Gloves in WIRED magazine’s feature
We gratefully acknowledge partnership and support from Ableton in this project.
Watch Kris Halpin using the gloves to create a glitch vocal effect: