Most of us thinks of it as retro, as nostalgia. Before consoles took over, the only way to get your game on was via pinball machines. You might have seen a hell lot of pinball machines till date, but the Bagatelle Concrete is one of its kinds. For your info, Bagatelle was an ancestor of modern pinball created in France for King louis XVI and it resembled a narrowed billiard table. Well, Martin Pichlmair teamed up with Viennese artist and researcher Fares Kayali to turn a pinball machine from the 70’s into a musical instrument. This pinball machine constructs music for you. It samples itself and maneuvers those samples on the basis of your gameplay. The decorative elements of the pinball game have been removed and digital electronics has been thrown into this analogue electro-mechanical machine. The gameplay remains technically unaltered and all the bumpers and traps are still in place. The change is the upshot of the game. You are playing for music, not for the high score.

The more brilliantly you interact with the machine, the more extreme the soundtrack gets. The piece still keeps up the roughness of the electromechanical original game, mixing physical sounds happening on the playing field with manipulations of their recordings. No idea if they are selling these amazing pinball machines, but I know most of you would really love to spend money on this masterwork. Gallery after the jump.

Bagatelle Concrete Pinball Machine Picture Gallery