Intel and Flume make ‘Intelligent Sounds’ together in new tech experiment via The Monkeys + Finch
To highlight the creative power of Intel processors inside the world’s latest must have gadget – the tablet – Intel has pioneered an inventive music film project in collaboration with Flume, otherwise known as Harley Streten, one of the world’s hottest new creative artists via The Monkeys and Finch.
Launched today, “Intelligent Sounds” is a brave technological experiment which sees ‘Felix the robot conductor’, his tablet-powered band members, and their instruments come to life to perform a new Flume track created specifically for this purpose.
Each ‘member’ of Intelligent Sound’s tablet band was programmed with synthesised notes and triggered to play through on cue, while robot arms were pre-programmed to hit the required notes in time with the final song.
It was a massive two-month collaboration between The Monkeys, who approached Flume with the project, and Finch who helped build a band of robots and instruments specifically to play all the sounds in Flume’s track (though essentially the band of robots can now be programmed to play anything).
The robots were built in-house at Finch. The process of custom-designing and fabricating each element out of laser cut and 3D printed materials took over 2000 developer hours on a 10 week deadline.
Several apps were designed to listen for sound frequency and volume and to react to certain triggers, creating equaliser and waveform effects on the faces of the tablets. A video sync app programmed all the robots to hit the notes simultaneously in a track composed by Flume exclusively for the campaign. The tablets were used as instruments themselves – those loaded with Xylophone and Mini Plucker applications were positioned on a plinth in the exact spot where mallets could hit the required, synthesised notes.
Jayant Murty, Intel’s director of brand strategy and integrated marketing for the Asia Pacific, said the short film is designed to be an entertaining light and sound experience and also to encourage viewers to consider the technology which is at the heart of their tablets.
Says Murty: “It is common place to have tablets play your music but it’s rare to have tablets create them. Intel technology transforms these devices from tools for consuming content into innovative instruments that allow for incredible self-expression.”
Murty said Intel has a proud 45-year history of innovation, bringing incredible performance to computing devices with its world-class engineering and continues to do so with its processors designed for tablet devices, delivering amazing mobile experiences.
Flume said the “Intelligent Sounds” project was one of the more challenging and enjoyable of his career to date.
Says Flume: “I love the challenge of writing music for a particular project and a defined theme. I find working within these boundaries inspires, rather than limits, creativity.”
At just twenty-one years of age Streten has achieved critical acclaim and mass appeal. He wrote much of his platinum-selling self-titled debut album while back-packing around Europe.
Says Flume: “For me it’s important I have technology I can utilise whenever, wherever.”
Agency: The Monkeys
Executive Creative Directors: Justin Drape & Micah Walker
Digital Creative Director: Jay Gelardi
Head of Broadcast Production: Thea Carone
Agency Producer: Jade Wannell
Director of Client Services: Dan Beaumont
Content Director: Brad Firth
Senior Content Manager: Priyanka Patel
Executive Planning Director: Fabio Buresti
Engagement Planner: Nikki Stammers
Social Media Strategist: Mat Abet
Social Media Creative: Alice Schofield
Production Company: Finch
Executive Producer: Rob Galluzzo
Director: Alex Roberts
Director of Applied Technology: Emad Tahtouh
Producer: Camilla Dehnert
Artist: Flume
Artist Management: Future Classic
Client Credits
Jayant Murty: Director of Brand Strategy & Integrated Marketing, Intel APAC
Claudine Pache: Consumer Brand & Marketing Strategy, Intel APAC
Stephanie Gan: Regional Manager for Advertising & Digital Programs, Intel APAC
22 Comments
Computer says no
It’s a nice film, in a Honda Cog meets google, mash-up kinda way.
But I don’t see how it demonstrates the processing power of the tablets when they’re basically being used as mere on/off switches.
An old Commodore 64 could do the same thing.
10 print “Nicely done”
20 goto 10
30 run
Great work guys. One to run globally I think.
Oh yeah, forget the musical intelligence of, say, Wynton Marsalis, this Flume guy has all the musical smarts I (and Intel) need.
I wonder how his ‘composing’ method compares to Duke Ellington’s or JS Bach’s? I’l bet it’s something to behold. This reviewer particularly enjoyed the masterful transposition and inversion of the leitmotif.
In years to come, scholars will, no doubt, still be as baffled as we are today at the sheer audacity, musical literacy, lyrical genius and orchestrating virtuosity of Flume.
And to think that he composed this SPECIFICALLY FOR THIS AD – when it could, so easily be – any European country’s National Anthem, be the ‘title track’ of an Andrew Lloyd Webber hit musical or a long lost Thelonious Monk standard.
Hat’s off to you Flume – get ready to take your place alongside other wildly popular and important Australian Pop music stars like Ted Mulry, Maureen Elkner and Daryl Somers.
And hats off to the creative team for simply giving your creative problem to another creative person.
Did it go anywhere?
Lovely job
zzzzzzzzzz
Finch and Flume..looks like it would have been fun to work on
You are clearly not in tune with the audience this ad is aimed at. I don’t think the youths that this is targeted towards would be very interested in the work of Wynton Marsalis, Duke Ellington or JS Bach to be honest. Do you need some help climbing down off you high horse?
Call me crazy, @Billy Field, but when you call a project ‘Intelligent Sounds’ rather than ‘Snotty nosed farce that any music student could have composed whilst unconscious’, you maybe invite this sort of criticism.
Not one thing about the sounds was, in fact, intelligent.
It’s clear from your comment, that you’re firmly with the ‘yoof’ in your preference for Mulry, Elkner and Somers. To each its own I say.
The Making Of is actually a lot more interesting and impressive than the launch film.
Not sure this is how content is supposed to work.
Billy. This is an ad. For a product. My personal taste in music has nothing to do with the fact that you are clearly overlooking the primary purpose of this communication. The selected artist is popular both in Australia and internationally amongst the demographic, therefore it seems to be a fairly reasonable choice. Nowhere in this ad does it suggest that the artist is a modern day musical genius.
In your own words, ‘to each their own’, and unfortunately, the ‘yoof’, as you have so pretentiously labelled them, are generally not quite as interested in jazz as you apparently are. Stop being a snob.
And for those playing at home ‘stop being a snob’ means ‘stop disagreeing with me’.
Summa jam!
Let the airwaves decide.
Will be aria nominated video of the year?
Pretty sure that is how content works. Give people something worth watching.
Billy, as others have pointed out, in terms of brand/target market alignment for this kinda thing, you’d be hard pressed to find a better one.
In the crowd this is aimed at he is killing it at the moment. And that’s the crowd that want – iPhone using, iPad loving, wannabe DJs linking closer and closer to Apple (whilst the rest hug Android) – plus he lends cred to the Android crowd.
Leaving everything else out, that’s a win and a decent talking head alignment.
there’s no denying that this is cool and it looks really nice too.
there’s a bit of spin in there (do they really make the track or just make parts of the track and edit them together) but who cares.
like how all their macs are neatly kept out of shot!
good work all
This is dark, boring way too long and doesn’t show me the tablet or tell me anything about its capabilities. Does it power robots? I have no idea… And where’s Flume, is he a robot too?
You sound like a pompous arse. You the same guy hacking on the Flume / Toby & Pete post earlier? We get it, you think electronic music is shit and jazz is king. I hate Old Spice – stinks like piss steam, but their ads are good. I will never buy an Intel tablet but I can appreciate the ad all the same.
Nice work. Comforting to see the usual, token saddo (Billy Field in this case) airing their general sourness on the CB blog.
PS. Billy – I think they wanted Tommy Tycho, but he was unavailable. Not sure why.
Innovative client
+ innovative agency
+ innovative artist
+ innovative production company
@billyfield
I’m going to make a wild assumption, based on the fact that your read this blog, that you work in the Ad Industry or one of it’s peripheries.
From this fact alone, I’m surprised, you should understand that the industry generally follows pop culture and current trends.
This ad clearly demonstrates the product in a visually appealing way, both functionally and aesthetically, using an artist who is incredibly popular with the intended audience.
Don’t over think it, you may end up spilling your coffee on your Coles catalogue layout.