All those who have never visited the Palau Güell, a little-known Gaudian jewel among Barcelona residents in the heart of the city, this week will have no excuse not to remedy it. On the occasion of the Sónar festival, its organ will be transformed to play a piece uninterruptedly, automatically and without human assistance, showing visitors one of the infinite possibilities offered by the communion between art and technology. "We want to recover the spirit of innovation that guided Gaudí at the time," defends the director of the Palau Güell, Guillem Mundet. So much so that the artists who have composed the piece that can be heard, the Berliners Gamut inc, define it as "a true trencadís musical".
This conversion of a traditional organ into a hyperorgan is achieved with the introduction of digital tools ---MIDI technology---, which take control and make it sound in a completely new way. Thus, arpeggios or stacked music chords impossible for any human can be executed. It can even be made playable from anywhere in the world, as long as it is connected. "There are 10 billion possibilities that we cannot even imagine yet. We have the entire 21st century ahead of us," says technologist Santi Vilanova, involved in the process of creating this musical experience at the Palau Güell along with Albert Blancafort, master organ builder, and Gamut inc.
While instruments such as the flute and violin have already reached their peak, organs are in constant evolution and there have been as many types as eras: Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Symphonic… Now, with the arrival of technology, a new door has opened. "It becomes an expanded organ, sounding in different ways, which allows the organist to become a sound designer. It's a great revolution," says Blancafort. "This loses the idea that an organ is only for mass," he adds. In this way, digital artists see in an instrument as traditional as the organ an acoustic synthesizer: "A piano sounds as it sounds, you cannot intervene, but in an organ you can decide the register of the note. It's not just about executing the music," illustrates Vilanova.
Although seeing an organ move on its own may already seem out of this world ---even supernatural---, the expansion it is experiencing does not end here. Artificial intelligence (AI) will be the next ingredient in this revolution, meaning that these instruments will not only be able to play independently but will also create works according to their own criteria. "We can assume this leadership from Barcelona. We can position ourselves as an art and technology hub," remarks the director of Sónar, Ricard Robles. This idea has gained strength in the city in recent weeks, both due to the imminent return of the Sónar festival and the celebration of the ISEA international symposium. Different initiatives are demonstrating the power that the Catalan capital has in this field, and now it only needs to be shaped. In the exploration of AI and hyperorgans, Robles proposes to start concretizing it with a permanent laboratory located in the MNAC organ, unused since the late 70s. "It is the only element of the 1929 Universal Exhibition that has not been recovered," laments Blancafort.
The tradition in the development of hyperorgans began in Germany, but it is expanding its borders, as with this concert in Barcelona, which will be the first to be held in Spain. It usually has a more academic focus, but Sónar wanted to bring it to a wider audience, indicates Robles, also with the aim of positioning the Catalan capital to lead this field. The hyperorgan of Palau Güell will sound throughout the day in infinite loops from this Wednesday until Sunday. It will be free for those with Sónar accreditation, and festival ticket buyers will have a reduced price of five euros. This musical experience is part of the SonarExtra program, which proposes a tour of different points in Barcelona. In addition to Palau Güell, an immersive installation by Italian artist Quayola can be seen at the ME by Melia hotel, or a sound installation by the late Finnish electronic musician Mika Vainio at the Fundació Antoni Tàpies.
Deck chairs to listen better
For those who enter the Palau Güell without knowing it is a hyper-organ, they will find a building that sounds in every corner and that the sound varies according to the space one is in, amplified by the dome with which the building was crowned as a natural loudspeaker. Even the floor and walls seem to vibrate. "It becomes a resonance box," explain Gamut inc, who traveled to Barcelona to get to know the place they had to invade with music, with the aim of not clashing with Gaudí and embracing his avant-gardism.
In the central hall, visitors will encounter a screen that allows them to see how the organ keys ---located a few floors above--- move without any finger touching them, receiving orders from the computer right in front of them. This space will be complemented with loungers to be able to listen to everything in a horizontal position, with ears oriented towards the dome. But it's not worth staying still, the beauty lies in seeing how the building adapts to the notes and interprets them according to its cavities and composition. And you have to go up to the terrace, where the music will also reach.
An organ with a lot of history
The interior of the Palau Güell is presided over by the organ that will see its capabilities expanded this week. The patron and businessman Eusebi Güell asked to incorporate it into the building that Gaudí was constructing between 1886 and 1890 so that his daughters, who had learned to play in Paris, could use it. As the director of the space recalls, even at that time different technical challenges had to be faced, such as the console with the keyboards being located in the main hall, while the body of the organ with the pipes was 12 meters high, which forced the design of a complex system of mechanisms to operate it. It also presented the use of electricity as an innovation.
The years eventually took their toll. During the Civil War, the metal pipes disappeared, probably dismantled and destined for battle, and their degradation continued during the post-war period. When the Barcelona Provincial Council, owner of Palau Güell since 1945, undertook the last restoration of the building, it saw that it was better to build a new one, given its condition, as well as to adapt to its new public use and the times. Albert Blancafort, who had also taken charge of the Sagrada Família organ, was the one who defined it in 2011, moving the console to the upper floor and incorporating new pipes. The master organ builder also incorporated a reproduction system that allows it to sound automatically during visits, technology that these days will make it possible to hear a hyperorgan.