Video series on the Floors
In this series, you can follow the design, layout, considerations relating to the Floors, as well as what to think about in building, playing and writing for this type of instrument. Digital musical instruments and interfaces for sound control can be widely different from each other, and transferring techniques from one to the other can be complex. In lieu of creating overarching ‘instrument families’ or generalities that reduce the subtleties of expression each instrument can bring, this series details this particular instrument as much as possible, so that others can use what relates to their interest, or find points of divergence that can inspire them.
This video explains the instrument’s design and function: a bending wooden platform with a load cell, sending signal via XLR into a Max patch and then Ableton. It demonstrates the instrument's acoustic and electronic range, including feedback, and explains how weight has to be split across multiple floors at once.It also introduces the keyboard and mouse extension used to swap sounds in performance.
In this video I explain how the floors map to sound parameters like attack, decay, harmonics and tempo, and why a many-to-many mapping suits an instrument with so few physical controls. The difference between triggered drum-rack samples and looped samples across scenes is covered, along with why irregular samples respond better than smooth, sustained ones. Acoustic techniques follow, including friction, mallets, and a feedback loop built from an EQ controlled by three floors.
Video three breaks down the gestural vocabulary built from shifting weight between two and up to five contact points, using feet, hands, knees, and hips. It explains why slow, sustained shifts work as control signals while fast triggering doesn't, since the wood bends slower than a button can respond. Separating acoustic from electronic output, and how floor layout limits available movement, are also addressed.
Aimed at composers, this video weighs notating sound against notating movement, and argues sonic cues translate more reliably than movement instructions. Pitch and sample choices need to be set up in Ableton in advance, so unfamiliar sounds require at least a week's lead time. Each floor's individual acoustic profile is covered too, along with why floor count and layout can't easily change at short notice.
An injury prompted the experiment in this video: replacing the floors with balls and impact sockets while keeping the same underlying sounds. The floors are an electronic interface first with acoustic sound layered on, while the balls are acoustic objects first, so triggering an electronic sound means making an acoustic one. The video ends by separating this swap from removing the mapping altogether, which is a much larger departure from the instrument as it stands.
This video looks at notation, split between notating movement (note length, meter) and notating sound (duration, timestamps). Tempo changes are explained as the way note length gets compressed or stretched within an ongoing polyrhythm, while holding still is what sustains a triggered sound. I argue for cues over strict metered notation and flag how sound changes requiring body contortion limit access to the keyboard.
Weight-shifting is the core technique in this video, along with how body shape and comfort affect which movements are available to a given player. Shifting weight causes less fatigue than sustained pushing, and there's a counterintuitive link between motion and sound: fast movement tends to produce stillness or quiet, while loud, sustained sound requires holding still. It closes with a practice progression: off the floor first, then one floor, then between floors.
A short demonstrative performance on the instrument, playing with interactions made possibly by using filters and feedback.
demonstrative performance using the Floors, contact microphones and the Table Floors (mini version prototype)
the process of building a language is iterative. You do as much as you observe. In the process of recording these videos, I accidentally ended up capturing a little feedback loop that was fertile in the setup in the room. Here’s a recording of a moment where something new is found.
You can see this type of discovery used in action in my performance Frames of Reference, using the creaking spot I found on the stage floor [watch here][creaking floor @ 54’:10”…]
Additional: mapping and audio manipulation demonstration
In these two additional demonstration videos, you can follow the software setup and mapping of sensor data to audio.
mapping used to correlate the data from bending the top of each plate through weight placement and shift to sound is demonstrated here. We see a 5-floor arrangement, used with samples and oscillators in Live, alongside the Max MSP patcher the handles the redirection of signal
This demonstration shows how the instrument is used to control one-shot (/triggered /instantaneous) sounds, and looping sounds, alongside channels and multiple sound sources per channel, to allow for sonic flexibility in performance with a small number of sensors, using movement.
Additional information
This series is offers an overview of the design, playing technique, and compositional considerations for the floors. More detail on performance practice, gestural vocabulary, and technical build specifics is in my published writing here and in a forthcoming book. Since these videos were recorded, I have been developing a move toward more portable setups, a new studio arrangement with the development of a new mapping and sound design for the floors. What isn't covered here are later refinements to the portable instrument’s prototype itself, which sit outside the scope of this series. Watch these videos for insight into how the floors work, as a reference if you're building or writing for a similar pressure-sensitive system, or to understand more about the music if you've seen me perform; you can dip into this out of the presented order (;
Credits
With thanks to Karl Willebrant, Chris Cody & Sam Galyer (video support 2024), Hadyn Buxton (audio recording 2024), Sasha Leitman (design and building the Table Floors - 2024), Takeshi Kondo (video editing 2026) and (always) Sebastian Collen (designer, builder and iterative maintenance and growth of the Floors)
this 10 part series combines insights from the first 9 years of development with this instrument, and is presented as a snapshot of its details as of the recording (June 2024).
Thanks to all who have been involved in that period of time: in work, play, chats and collaboration.
