The Space Between Us was commissioned by Other Minds, with support from the James Irvine Foundation and the Canada Council for the Arts. It is scored for two spatially-separated string quartets and a set of robotic instruments performed by a percussionist using a 3D sensor. The robotic instruments were created specially for this piece by Seattle sound artist Trimpin, whose work has appeared in galleries throughout the world and who was a winner of a MacArthur "genius" grant. The instruments include a set of 18 chimes that are hung above the audience. The piece was premiered at the 2011 Other Minds Festival. Excerpts below (titles are silent)...
Here is a photo at Trimpin's studio in Seattle, where he is describing to me his ideas for the chime mechanism:
The robotic instruments are controlled remotely by a Radiodrum (a 3-D performance controller with six degrees of freedom.) The work includes a set of chimes that surround the audience and are controlled remotely by the radiodrum, as well as remote control xylophone, glockenspiel and piano.