Bean

(Tina Blaine)

Bean's pursuit of percussion has taken her around the world from Africa to Asia and beyond. Inspired by global traditions and spontaneous music-making, Bean co-founded D'CuCKOO, the cybertribal ensemble that built custom MIDI controller instruments for interactive multimedia performance. She has also performed and recorded with Brian Eno, Mickey Hart, Malonga Casquelourd, Tracy Blackman, Haunted by Waters and Pandemonaeon. In her other life, Bean teaches at Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center in Pittsburgh, PA. She has been a contributing writer to Electronic Musician Magazine and was a "musical interactivist" at Interval Research Corporation in Palo Alto for two years. At Interval, she invented an instrument known as the "Jam-O-Drum." This device integrates electronic drum pads with computer graphics visuals in an interactive installation for novice musicians at the Experience Music Project in Seattle - it's like a giant electronic drum circle!

An energetic performer/educator, Bean has conducted workshops at numerous universities and technology conferences across the country. Bean is still developing new software and hardware for the Jam-O-Drum with the multi-talented students at CMU's Entertainment Technology Center. That work has resulted in several other museum exhibits at Zeum in San Francisco, the Ars Electronica Center in Linz, Austria and the Brand Experience Lab in New York City. Bean's work has also appeared at SIGGRAPH's Emerging Technologies in 2000 and 2001. If you are interested in alternate controllers, check out the New Interfaces for Musical Expression Conferences - NIME !