Yuri Suzuki

7/29/2019 Yuri Suzuki

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Sound artist

Designer

Electronic musician

Born in Tokyo in 1980, now living in London.

From 1999-2005 worked for Japanese art unit,Maywa Denki, where he developed a stronginterest in music and technology.

In 2005 he moved to London to study at theRoyal College of Art. During this time he workedon projects for Yamaha and British/Germandesigner and engineer Moritz Waldemeyer.

After graduating in 2008 he opened his own

studio in London.

Suzukis work raises questions of the relationbetween sound and people and how music andsound affect peoples minds.

Suzukis sound art pieces and installations have

been shown in exhibitions all around the world.


3/13

http://vimeo.com/37587421

an antique physics apparatus

for demonstrating acoustic

standing sound waves.

Invented in 1905 by German

physicist Heinrich Rubens,it graphically shows the

relationship between sound

waves and sound pressure,

like a primitive oscilloscope.

Commissioned by MUSARC

London - 2012


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The Sound Taxi is equipped

with a microphone that

records its surrounding noise:

the rumbling traffic, screeching

brakes, sirens, construction, all

are a part of the everyday dinof the city.

A specially designed software

analyses the frequencies of

these noises and uses them to

generate unique music in real

time.

Commissioned by AiAiAi

London - 2012


5/13

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNq4f3KAnzA

The sculpture made from recycled

beer cans was inspired by the

towering, bass-driven stereo

systems which provide much of

the rhythm of Jamaican street life.

Yuri said: In Jamaica they had to

make all instruments and sound

systems from scratch, as there

are not so many materials.

However that made some great

inventions, and the reggae music

culture has been made

by a DIY, frontier spirit.

For Red Stripe Beer

Commissioned by

KK Outlet London - 2011


6/13


Three different frequencies

on three different radios

wired up and turned into

one cool musical instrument.

Originally developed by

Tomoya Yamamoto

(Yamamoto Super Theremin)

Additional Development by

Yuri Suzuki

For exhibition Object Abuse

KK Outlet, London - 2011


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Urushi: special lacquer known for

its resilience, from Wajima

in Ishikawa prefecture on the

North Western tip of Japan.

Black lacquered surface

contrasted by gold inlaid lines of

the actual interface using the

chinkin (gold foil) technique.

The gold inlays are a conductive

surface; touching the end-points

activates the instrument.

Yuri wanted the project to

possess both aesthetic beauty

and functionality.

In collaboration with Takashi

Wakamiya and Matt Rogers

London 2010


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Collaborating on design with British composer and musician Matthew Rogers,

Yuri has created a touch panel style instrument which uses the principle of

gold inlay.

It is a musical instrument controller

in which the logically patterned circleis a functional musical keyboard.

The circular format allows us

to better understand musical

relationships of notes and chords.

For example:

Grouped in threes as minor chords (switchable to major), but

if you touch the C, G, E regular keys, you play the C major chord;

if you touch the C, G, E flatkeys, you play the C minor chord.

In terms of engineering, each gold inlay line is hooked up to a touch-switch

board and then connected to the MIDI interface, allowing one to connect any

MIDI electronic musical instrument and control it from this keyboard.


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The project consists of two pens that allow recording sound on a

line and then playing it back.

The REC pen, draws and record sound on a line. It contains special

ferromagnetic ink, made with the same material used to make old

cassette tapes, a recording head and a microphone.

The ink is applied to the paper and at the same time the recording

head can record the sound captured by the microphone situated at

the top part of the pen.

The PLAY pen allows playing back the sound. It contains a read

head and a speaker. When the tape-read head is moved along the

line, the previously recorded sound can be heard.

Nostalgically, the pens use the color code used in old cassette

recorders. The REC pen is red, and the PLAY pen, black.

In collaboration with Oscar Diaz - 2010


10/13


An installation which enables

anyone to control a set of drums

with their own voice.

The principles of augmented reality

to interpret them in the realm of

sound.

Project for EPFL+ECAL Lab

Switzerland 2010


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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13zERNtkbl0

A commission work for

Japanese creative agency Party

to design and create series of

robots for a music video of

Japanese band Androp.

Series of robots are controlled

via MIDI signal.

For Androp

Commissioned by Party Tokyo

In collaboration with KIMURA

and Tomoaki Yanagisawa - 2012


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A game where people bounce on

chairs that are attached to bicycle

pumps which inflate opposing heart-

shaped balloons in order to pop

their opponents balloon.

The game becomes a performance

and with a sound-triggered camera

system in this installation, when

people scream or balloon pops it

automatically snaps a picture.

During the festival, over 100 people

participated and brought backpictures as a keepsake.

In collaboration with Bahbak

Hashemi-Nezhad and Household

Designed for a stall at Village fete in

V&A - 2008


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Can you differentiate between musicians

and sound artists?

If so, can this differentiation be simply defined

by the context that the work is placed or discussed within?

Or can the distinction be defined by the process that the

artist/musicians use or the intended outcome of the work?

Documents

Yuri Suzuki