HeadSpace
To see a longer section of Clarence and HeadSpace Ensemble follow this link
HeadSpace Ensemble In 1999, Carnyx Co. received funding from the Diageo Foundation to commission composer and sonic inventor Rolf Gehlhaar to develop a new musical instrument which would enable Clarence Adoo – a top trumpeter, left paralysed from the neck down following a car accident in 1995 – to engage with fellow performers at the highest professional level. This highly sophisticated and powerful electronic musical instrument was entitled Head=Space. Controlled by subtle movements of the player’s head, coupled with small but delicate and precise air columns, Head=Space gave Clarence Adoo a medium, through which he might learn to express himself as a high quality musician once again.
In 2005, after much practice and technical development, Head=Space received its first public airing at the St Magnus Festival on Orkney. Festival Director, Ian Ritchie, had commissioned the Artistic Director of Carnyx & Co, John Kenny, to compose a piece for the new instrument, and Kenny produced an ensemble piece, called HeadSpace encompassing Clarence Adoo with Torbjorn Hultmark on trumpets & flügelhorn, John Kenny on trombone & carnyx, and the sound designer Chris Wheeler.
Consequently, Rolf and Vahakn Gehlhaar have developed a new instrument, Hi-Note, which enables Clarence to perform with greater flexibility and immediacy, opening up a new range of expressive opportunities. Hi-Note featured in John Kenny’s compositions “Salt” and “The Salt Road” at the Setubal Festival in Portugal, and Cumnock Tryst Festival, Scotland, in 2016.