BodyOSC are wearable instruments designed around using the human body as a conduit to transmit audio signals. Functionally, this means the human body serves as a summing mixer/resistor network, thus transforming the human body into an audio synthesizer.. My original intention with these instruments was to allow dancers more agency in creating the music for a performance. These instruments debuted 8/24/19 at ODC in San Francisco, as part of  Driven Art’s Collective’s << Khôra >> : a dance in digital and physical space.

These instruments were developed from May-August 2019. The first version of this instrument uses 6 tunable square wave oscillators connected 6 contact points. There is a 7th contact point, that is attached to the skin of the user while the instrument is used. The 7th contact point is the connection to a wireless transmitter, which sends the summed square wave signals to a computer for processing. This version uses an external wireless transmitter.

The oscillator contact points were conductive fabric. The output contact point was either conductive fabric or copper tape, depending on the comfort of the user. Copper snaps and kinesthetic tape were used as strain relief to help prevent the connections from breaking during use.