Ecal×Yamaha Sound Machines

Master Product Design students from ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne have created, in collaboration with Japanese brand Yamaha and its Design Laboratory, new types of music players in order to meet new requirements related to listening to music.

Under the guidance of Camille Blin, Head of the project, the students first investigated and documented different contemporary processes and ways of listening to music, specifically through photographs and videos. The aim was to create a cartography of these practises. In a second step, they transcribed and applied these findings to new music playback devices – relevance and innovation being essential in this phase of the project. Finally, with the help of specialists from the Yamaha Design Laboratory based in Hamamatsu (Japan) and Los Angeles (USA), they developed the formal and technical qualities of their initial concepts into prototypes.

Six projects were finalised, with great attention to details and materials, which are now presented thanks to a scenography by Anthony Guex. Hence, the exhibition features a music player that offers musicians a new way to practise their instruments using artificial intelligence; an installation that responds to the growing demand for live concerts at home by using a combination of sound and light to mimic a real concert environment; ASMR instruments that offer listeners a soothing moment by playing the sounds of relaxing movements; a home speaker that allows for a smoother transition between the different music players commonly used in the home; a player that offers an unexpected experience by displaying the rotation of a vinyl record vertically on a pedestal, and a speaker that allows people to listen to their music using their favourite objects as a trigger.

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