player printer 2006
Player printer' was originally commissioned by Access Space, Sheffield. The piece uses a combination of
defunct computer hardware, open source software and electronics to reinvent a player piano. In a similar vein to clockwork music boxes and early computers the 'Player Printer'
reads holes punched within sheets of card. This data is sent as MIDI messages to an old pc running Linux
and an open source audio program called SuperCollider where it is turned into music.
Visitors to the space are invited to make new scores for the piece by punching holes in sheets of card and
feeding them through the printer. Unlike many computer based sequencers it is easy to hear the score
upside down or back to front.