“It allows you to explore sound.”

That’s what one of the creators of the Collidoscope multi-user sampling synthesizer said in the video above, and that perfectly (albeit broadly) summarizes what their invention is capable of. What Ben Bengler and Fiore Martin’s device allows you to do is record sounds and sample them in creative ways. A waveform of your recording shows up on a display, and from there, you can select what portion of the audio you want to use and have different pitches mapped to a keyboard.

Even that description is probably oversimplifying it, but the demo video above seems to give a solid idea of what the Collidoscope is capable of. If it ever hits the market (it’s not available for sale at the moment), this could be a useful tool for innovative composition, live performances, or just sitting at home and, as they put it, exploring sound.

If you’re looking to explore sound further and learn more about sampling in music (and have 40 minutes to kill), electronic musician Four Tet is a master of using samples in music, and he spoke with FutureMusic a couple years ago for this video that details his creative process, which involves recording his own samples from whatever source of sound he can think of, to arranging those found noises into cohesive compositions.

Producer Mark Ronson also gave a TED Talk last year about the history of sampling and how useful it’s been in music since the 1980s, so you can watch that below as well. Sorry to overload you with video watching homework, but if you’re interested in this sort of thing, both videos are fascinating and worthwhile viewing.

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HT: Engadget

Featured image courtesy of Doctor Mix