THE WORK OF CHARLIE WHITNEY

For an exhibition in their New York studios, Red Bull exhibited 101 vintage synthesizers. As part of the exhibit I was approached by Red Paper Heart to build a physical interface for interacting with visuals that highlighted 6 specific synths and drum machines that had special significance in the history of music.

To give that real analog feel, we decided on an interface consisting of actually having to plug in a quarter inch jack to select a drum machine. Upon a visitor plugging in, a projection mapped video would play on the curved wall in front of them, highlighting specific songs that were made famous by these machines.

I was responsible for fabricating the microcontroller and corresponding hardware, as well as the video playback software that connected to it. The exhibit ran alongside the Red Bull Music Academy Festival in New York from May 3rd to 31st, 2014.

RED BULL - BEAT REPEAT

Bringing back a little analog

Credits:

Code + Hardware

Charlie Whitney

Creative Direction

Zander Brimijoin
Pedro Piccinini

Production

Red Paper Heart

Event Design

Odd Division
Red Bull Music Academy