Bloom vs Gliss

Brian Eno and Peter Chilvers are pleased to announce Bloom: 10 Worlds – a developed, augmented and expanded new edition of 2008’s game-changing original Bloom app, which explored uncharted territory in the realm of applications and was dubbed “The First Great iPhone App” by Gizmodo. Requiring no musical or technical ability, the egalitarian and user-friendly Bloom app enabled anyone of any age to create music, simply by touching the screen. Part instrument, part composition and part artwork, Bloom’s innovative controls allowed users to create elaborate patterns and unique melodies by simply tapping the screen. A generative music player took over when Bloom was left idle, creating an infinite selection of compositions and their accompanying visualisations. Bloom: 10 Worlds is a reimagining of the original – not simply a remaster. If the original Bloom was a single, then this would be an album. The widely broadened palette of sounds and images can be experienced via 10 new ‘worlds’, each exploring a new direction for Bloom. The first world the user encounters is an echo of the original app, with circles appearing where the user taps. Each subsequent world unlocks automatically, introducing new combinations of sounds, shapes, colours and rules of behaviour. Praise for the original Bloom “The very first iPhone apps were universally dull. And then Bloom came out. It was immediately obvious that something special was happening. The app was interesting on an artistic level – one that made you reconsider the relationship between technology and music. It raised the bar for musical iPhone apps.” Gizmodo “Hypnotic and ludicrously addictive.” The Guardian “A relaxing alternative to just about anything else you can do with an iPhone.” Wired Eno began collaborating with musician / software designer Peter Chilvers on Will Wright’s computer game Spore. Their shared interest in generative music rapidly lead to the development of a prototype for Bloom in 2008. In the intervening decade, they experimented further with the field, expanding their catalogue of apps with Trope, Scape and Reflection. In that time Chilvers has also acted as an engineer and technical advisor to Eno on a number of other projects. A series of multi-speaker installations around the world laid the groundwork for 2016’s The Ship, and they premiered Bloom: Open Space, a mixed reality installation in Amsterdam in 2018. In addition to his work with Eno, Chilvers co-founded the Burning Shed label and online store, toured with Underworld’s Karl Hyde as keyboardist and musical director, and has recorded instrumental albums and collaborations with vocalist Tim Bowness.

Gliss turns your iOS device into an expressive, motion-based controller for music, while connected to MiMU’s desktop application Glover. Gliss wirelessly sends your device’s motion sensor data to your computer so that you can use your iPhone or iPad to control music software. For example, you can: - Tilt your device to add effects to your voice - Make sharp movements for air drums - Control synth parameters using gestures - Trigger samples without touching your computer Not only does Gliss automatically detect and send your device’s gyroscope/accelerometer data (as pitch, yaw and roll), you can also teach it to recognise the manner in which you move your fingers over the screen and start using the touch-responsive surface of your iOS device for making music. Connect Gliss with MiMU’s desktop app Glover over Wi-Fi and map your movement signals to control any live music / video software or hardware that supports MIDI or OSC. Some examples include Ableton Live, Logic Pro X, Mainstage, Max/MSP, Unity, FL Studio and many more. Music is a way to express ourselves and so the way we control music should be expressive too. Features include... MOTION-DETECTION Detection of movements using the built-in accelerometer and gyroscope in your device GESTURE-RECOGNITION On screen detection of multi-touch gestures BUTTONS AND SLIDERS Send triggers and control faders WIRELESS FEEDBACK Get feedback from your computer via colours and the vibration modes on the device