This is a fascinating project in which neurology and music collide in a moving way. (Oliver Sacks would’ve loved it.) It’s about the creation of a string-quartet composition called “Activating Memory,” and its creators are called the “Paramusical Ensemble.” Each of its members is a severely motor-impaired individual at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability in London, England.
The composers generated all of the parts using nothing but brainwaves. They were connected via electroencephalogram electrodes to a brain-computer music interface (BCMI) system that allowed each person to compose their part on-the-fly by selecting from among four phrases for live musicians to play — really, it’s as much a performance by the composers as it is by the musicians.