BIOHARMONIC QUARTET
2018
Artists: Benjamin Bacon, Vivian Xu
Performers: B6 (Lou Nanli), Wang Wenwei, Shanghai Philharmonic String Quartet
The Bio-harmonic Quartet is a hybrid performance system that links together several musicians and artists via a biofeedback network. This network acts as a musical interface and uses the collective data of participants’ bodily activities to generate music and soundscapes in collaboration with ML models. The work is an exploration into human-machine relationships within the context of music creation.
The piece consists of machine learning models and basic wearable sensory systems that capture muscle movement, pulse, and BCI data. This work was commissioned by the Shanghai musician B6 (Lou Nanli) and presented at the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra during the second half of the his solo concert Blossoms along-side the Shanghai Philharmonic string quartet, pianists and guitarist Wang Wenwei.

Rehearsal with B6, Wang Wenwei, Vivian Xu and the Shanghai Philharmonic (piano and string quartet)
Image of participating artists Benjamin Bacon (left), B6 (middle) and Vivian Xu (right) at the
Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Hall taken before the performance.

Concert Poster
