Imogen Heap – The Listening Chair

Imogen Heap in the listening chair

Imogen Heap in the listening chair

“Have you ever been in a certain mood and reached for a song you’d hoped would ‘fit’ but couldn’t find anything? Or maybe you’d like to hear a song on a particular topic? I’m curious to know if there’s a song ‘void’. Maybe there are many?”

These were the questions that lead British singer-songwriter Imogen Heap to collaborate with designer Moritz Waldemeyer. The outcome is the Listening Chair, an egg-shaped chair which doubles as a recording studio, designed to travel around the world asking people the question: “What is the song that still needs to be written?”

The listening chair with Imogen Heap

The listening chair with Imogen Heap

 The Listening Chair was presented at the Sound Summit in Sidney, and will now travel to London and Edimburgh. Moritz Waldemeyer served as the project manager of the chair, with the collaboration of Middlesex University.

This travelling recording studio features speakers on either side with volume control, an integrated camera, microphone and LED strips that turn on when the user records his or her answer. Once the message is recorded, the user can choose to make it public, uploading it onto The Listening Chair website. The collected recordings will be gathered in a documentary, and Heap will use these “seeds” as the basis of an a capella track in her new album.

Imogen Heap using the music function of the listening chair

Imogen Heap using the music function of the listening chair

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