inthemix | International News | Richie Hawtin explains 'The Cube'... sort of

Electronic music blogs and internet forums across the world worked themselves into quite a lather recently, with pioneering techno titan Richie Hawtin surreptitiously taking the wraps off his latest project, mysteriously named ‘The Cube’. So far no one could really work out what The Cube was going to do, but on the weekend all was revealed as Hawtin debuted the device at his M_nus after party following Detroit’s Movement Festival.

Touted by Hawtin as “new club concept,” while at the party he spoke with website Beatportal and explained what it actually does… sort of. “It’s an interactive cube structure covered by LEDs that recognizes people who’ve signed up for Contakt membership,” Hawtin remarked, while chilling at the bar.

So it seems the only way you’ll get to see The Cube is by heading along to one of Hawtin’s Contakt events, which are taking place to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his seminal M_nus label. Sadly, no dates are scheduled for Australia, but if you’re in Spain, Belgium, UK, Germany, Argentina, Italy, Japan or Canada anytime soon, it could be worth a look in. Once you’re there, though, what actually happens?

“If you join Contakt as a member you get a special card which is embedded with a microchip. The Cube can detect when a member is in the club. It also broadcasts messages via bluetooth and LAN. So when you come to a Contakt event, anyone who has their bluetooth turned on will receive a message.”

So, after all of the hype and anticipation, it seems The Cube is nothing more than a fancy way of signing people up to the M_nus SMS database. Not that we’re complaining… it still looks really cool, yeah?