The Readymade Synth: Prepared Synthesis with Everyday Objects

Antoni Rayzhekov; Martin Murer

The Readymade Synth: Prepared Synthesis with Everyday Objects
Image credit: Antoni Rayzhekov; Martin Murer

Abstract:

John Cage’s prepared piano reimagined instruments as spaces where everyday objects reshape timbre and articulation. We extend this ethos digitally through introducing Prepared Synthesis, a method that treats the geometry of arbitrary, everyday objects as direct input for spectral sound generation. We present The Readymade Synth, an integrated instrument implementing this approach: A keyboard controls pitch and timing while a computer-vision-based system transforms objects placed on a sensing surface into live preparations. The objects’ contours are decomposed into elliptic Fourier descriptors that define additive oscillator spectra. The objects’ areas define the respective amplitude envelopes and object position controls stereo panning and mix balance. Any object becomes timbral material, and multiple objects blend spectral contributions. We formalise these as perceptually motivated feature-to-sound mappings and investigate the approach through a performance-oriented implementation. The Readymade Synth and a series of compositional explorations with a professional musician demonstrate how unmodified objects can function as repeatable yet flexible timbral material, producing coherent musical outcomes.