Spinstruments - Sound Staff and Poi

TLDR: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khkRy3emyr8)

UPDATE: Thank you all for your generous donations! with your help we have been able to buy flights to the competition for the both of us! I will be using any further donations to fund the continuous development of the Spinstruments. Some of the next prototypes will be Hoop, Dragon Staff, and Clubs. 

Thank you again for your amazing support!


THE VISION:

Since the origins of human expression, dance and music have been closely intertwined.  Both art forms have validated and supported one another while simultaneously stimulating their intertwined progress and evolution. 

It is no surprise that now artists are craving a way to fuse the two. 

Instead of dance always being dictated by music, this project creates an avenue for expression where movement and sound are combined as one. 

‘Flow Arts ’ is the contemporary term for movement artists who fuse object manipulation and dance.  The tools they use (i.e. staffs, poi, ect…) stem from ancient martial arts but have been non-weaponized by today’s culture and re-purposed as tools for expressive movement and dance. 

Spinstruments use modern technology to create a kinesthetic harmony and give a voice to these ancient movements. 

WATCH HERE: SPINSTRUMENT DEMO PLAYLIST 

The Spinstruments are designed to be reactive to the users movements.  There are currently two prototypes, Sound Poi and Sound Staffs, but we are developing the technology to encompass the greater dance, circus and aerialist spectrum. 

The device is programmed to assign sounds to particular types of movements so that as the artist builds a choreography, they can also create a song.  The sounds themselves can be interchanged and there are limitless possibilities for combinations of sounds.


WHATS NEXT:

We are excited to announce that we have been accepted by Georgia Tech to compete in the Guthman Musical Instrument Competition  and are now trying to raise money to cover the costs of competing.   The grand prize would be enough for us to successfully launch the Spinsturments as a business in hopes of one day having a marketable product for public use.  

Please help us harness this opportunity to compete this conference and achieve this dream.  We can not do it alone.


How the money will be spent...

ADMINISTRATIVE:
-Paying off initial investments & debt from creating the prototypes ~$1200

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT:
-Ordering speakers, accelerometers, lights to make more prototypes for durability testing vs. performance
-3D print new Sound Staffs and Sound Poi casings
-Coding support to program more sounds and settings

GUTHMAN COMPETITON:
-Travel expenses for both Enrico (USA) and Ben (AUS) to attend the conference/ competition in Atlanta, Georgia.

Do you believe in this project?  Help us influence the future of flow!

Your contribution is wholeheartedly appreciated.




History of our project:

The story begins in 2014 when Dale Sherrard introduced Enrico Vinholi and Tatsuya Ishii who created the first iteration of the Sound Staff Project at the University of Montana.  After college Tatsuya moved back to his home country of Japan.  In 2016 Enrico was granted an award from Fund the Flow Arts  to go to Japan and continue developing the project.  Shortly after some significant progress,  Tatsuya, the lead programer at the time, was hired to program for Rhizomatiks and was no longer available to work on the project.     

Around the same time completely unbeknownst in Australia, Ben Cooper developed the Sound Poi.  When Ben and Enrico met in 2018 they new they had to join forces to develop the future of instruments, object manipulation and movement art.  Welcome to our journey!

Special Thanks:
Dale Sherrard
Tatsuya Ishii
Fund the Flow Arts 
Sean, Prisna and the Flowspace
Justin Widmar (Prop Box Approved)