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CellFProject by Guy Ben-Ary is a biological neural network synthesizer that can jam with other musicians:cellF is the world’s first neural synthesizer. It is a real “wet-alogue” Synthesizer. cellF’s “brain” is made of a biological neural network that grows in a Petri dish and controls in real time an array of analogue modular synthesizers that were custom made to work in synergy with the neural network. It is a totally autonomous,wet and analogue instrument.
In 2012, Guy Ben-Ary received a fellowship to develop a biological self-portrait, and decided to portray one of his juvenile dreams: to become a rock star. Guy Ben-Ary had a biopsy taken from his arm,then he cultivated his skin cells in vitro in the
labs of SymbioticA at UWA, and using Induced Pluripotent Stem cell technology, and he transformed his skin cells into stem cells. When these stem cells began to distinguish they were pushed down the neuronal lineage until they became neural stem cells,which were then fully differentiated into neural networks over a Multi-Electrode Array (MEA) dish to become - “Ben-Ary’s external brain.
The MEA dishes that host Ben-Ary’s neural networks consist of a grid of 8×8 electrodes. These electrodes can record the electric signals (action potentials) that the neurons produce and at the same time send stimulations to the neurons – essentially a read-and-write interface to the “brain”.
Human musicians are invited to play with cellF in special one-off shows. The human-made music is fed to the neurons as stimulation, and the neurons respond by controlling the analogue synthesizers, or together they perform live,reflexive and improvised sound pieces or “jam sessions” that are not entirely human.
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