RCA Design Products students have used the mundane actions of daily life and household objects, such as a book, chair or typewriter, to create a range of experimental designs that aim to show how anyone can make and perform music.

Amongst the 9 featured ideas are a Knitting Scanner which reads patterns in knitted garments and translates them into music; the Chromophone allows people to make music from the colours they see; an installation of porcelain bowls that allows people to play using their hands or everyday objects; a comfortable lounge chair which houses an audio processing ‘brain’, microphone, joystick and sound horns; an interactive instrument that has fifty sensors around its surface to allow people’s body movement to compose and play music; a wearable instrument with which body movements execute a symphony of buttons, zip fasteners, and velcro.

The students are part of Platform 2, one of six teaching units within the College’s renowned Design Products department, led by designers Jurgen Bey, Martino Gamper with Tomoko Azumi.

For more information and to see the instruments please visit the Yamaha website from 7 May. Videos will go on-line from 13 May.

www.global.yamaha.com/design (click on Making Fun Serious tag on the right side).

Making Fun Serious: 13 - 23 May
CUBE Gallery, 113-115 Portland Street, Manchester M1 6DW
Opening times vary, visit www.cube.org.uk  for details.
Free admission.