Library Instrument

UPIC

Xenakis's graphic composition system, translating tablet drawings directly into sound.

A UPIC system installation
A later (1986) Greek UPIC installation, not the original 1977 CEMAMu system.Source
Type
Instrument
Creators
Patrick Saint-Jean, Iannis Xenakis
Subjects
Sound Computation Form

The Unité Polyagogique Informatique du CEMAMu (UPIC), completed in 1977 by engineer Patrick Saint-Jean under Iannis Xenakis’s direction, let a composer draw directly onto a digitizing tablet and hear the drawing translated into sound in real time — a graphic, computer-mediated alternative to notation or patching.