MMDer Gerhard Kern tells us that he has been developing music machines
in cooperation with artist-musicians Marion Wörle and Maciej Sledziecki
of Berlin, who describe their involvement with the "Avant AvantGarde"
festival at http://www.gamut-ensemble.de/ :

  "Since 2012 we are developing within the frame of the AVANT AVANTGARDE
  festival, together with the instrument builder Gerhard Kern, music
  machines modeled after early musical instruments but fully automated
  and controlled from computers.  Our focus lies in sonic textures -- for
  that purpose we have developed specialized software to control these
  machines live.  Further on we use different forms of live-generated
  music scores to enable different degrees of composition and live
  improvisation between the machines, electronic sounds and 'real'
  musicians, with which we like to cooperate."

The result is three unusual self-playing mechanical musical
instruments:

(1) "P2 automated physharmonica -- This is the second version of
  the physharmonica, an accordion-like fully automated machine.  After
  exchanging many ideas with Gerhard Kern he built this instrument from
  scratch.

(2) "C3 solenoid-driven automated carillon -- A computer-driven
  carillon, C3 was the first instrument that Gerhard Kern made for us.

(3) "BowJo B1 electro-magnetic monochord -- The BowJo combines three
  coursed monochords that are driven by magnetic fields produced by
  e-bows."

More information is at

  http://www.musikmechaniker.blogspot.de/ 
  http://www.z-a-m.eu/avant-avantgarde.html 
  http://www.gamut-ensemble.de/ 
  https://www.facebook.com/gamut.machines 

A short biography and photo of Gerhard Kern is at

  http://www.gamut-ensemble.de/index.php?people 

Robbie Rhodes - MMD