Halldorophone

Continua is a duet for cellist and live coder, each playing a hybrid instrument based on the Halldorophone, an electroacoustic instrument in which electromagnetically-controlled feedback can be induced independently on each string.

Following the design of the halldorophone, the self-resonating behaviour of the Feedback Cello is induced by acoustic and vibrational actuation: the signals from pickups under each string are sent to a speaker built into the back of the instrument, and a vibrational transducer fixed on the front.

One recent example is the 'Halldorophone', a range of adapted string instruments built by Halldór Úlfarsson that combine acoustic, electronic and digital functions within a single instrument (Figure 8.3).

After ten years of use, the halldorophone has a growing repertoire of works by prominent composers and performers.

Influential works were the Overtone Fiddle [3], the Self-Resonating Feedback Cello [4, 5], the feral cello [6], the Magnetic Resonating Piano [7], the Feedback Resonance Guitar [2], Half-Closed loop [8] as well as the ongoing work of Halldór Úlfarsson, halldorophone[9] a cello-like feedback instrument.