EMG Music is a muscle controlled loop station developed at Music Hack Day Reykjavík. The project is a collaboration with Baldur Þorgilsson from Kine, who make KineLive, a movement analysis system used in rehabilitation.

The KineLive system was hacked to allow access to the EMG (electromyography) signal from the wireless sensors (see picture) and routed through to Pure Data, assigning several muscles to different musical controls. In the hack day demo we used three sensors, one is controlling loop start/stop and instrument select, and the others pitch and and amplitude.

Further down the line, the system could be extended beyond musical control, and incorporate visuals and lights into an extended toolkit for physical expression.