New games like Guitar Hero are bringing music making to the masses, and Josh Randall, Creative Director of Harmonix (and a CDM reader, to boot) thinks the trend is just getting started. Aside from Guitar Hero, Harmonix has given us Frequency, Amplitude, Karaoke Stage, and they’ve got more games in store, including a Guitar Hero sequel announced at E3. But it’s not just about these games.

The 3D cards that power games are increasingly enabling new interfaces for music, merging the visual and aural realms. One of the most stunning experiments yet is the Fijuu, which just premiered in its second-generation form as a commission for Cybersonica sound art show in London. (Earlier versions have been seen around since 2004.) Fijuu lets visitors sculpt sound, then record the results on tracks, leaving sonic “footprints” as the sound creator describes them. The interface is entirely controlled by a standard PlayStation 2 controller, as shown in this screen grab.

Cybersonica is underway in London, bringing with it wild, new sound art. Organizer Chris O’Shea puts it this way:

The works selected . . . move beyond the ‘screen, keyboard, mouse scenario’ and respond to physical input, proximity, sound, kinetics, elapsed time and the surrounding environment.

Check out the preview videos, photos, and descriptions at Chris’ site. And if you’re in London, by all means, please go and see this! If you do go, take some notes and photos and send them my way. I know the organizers are hoping for some blog coverage, so let’s not let them down just because I’m across the pond!

Huggable musical orbs? A tabletop music game in which you throw around virtual MIDI balls? Digital windchimes? Installations of giant ears, spheres, and a washing machine you stick your head into?

Playing with sound like this must mean you’re at Cybersonica, London’s massive interactive music + sound technology expo. And CDM was there to — well, okay, I wasn’t there, sadly. Our online friends were, though; here are their full reports:

Chris O’Shea (pixelsumo) reports on digital wind chimes (and presented, too!)

The new MAzine blog, devoted to networked art, reports on giant ears, spheres, swarms, and more

The legendary Near Near Future’s Regine reports on orbs you can hug, virtual balls you can play with, washing machines you can stick your head in, and a keynote on why digital art in 2005 may be a lot like 1734.

Personally, I like playing with balls, be they virtual balls or giant huggable orbs. So, what’s with all these interactive tables? See my previous report on tracking the use of tabletop interfaces. If this one looks familiar, there’s a reason: it’s based on the previous Interactive Surround Sound Cube. I like the idea of tabletop interfaces: maybe soon we can incorporate pool/ping-pong and cupholders, too, features my factory-standard Mac tower lacks.