MOG

A Musical Enigma In a recent tribute to mathematician Alan Turing, electronic music duo Matmos uses the sounds produced by an Enigma machine.

Daniel: ... There's this mantra, "every noise has a note." It's basic­ally true. Even the Enigma machine is in a particular key. Martin came up with a piano part, and then thought, well, let's make it more enigmatic by encrypting his notes.

Why encrypt the piano? Daniel: It was about confronting people with the impenetrability of an encrypted signal.

You can find a sample on this page.

Encrypted or not, the first appearance of the piano is chilling; the second, nearly whimsical and wouldn't have been out of place in an early Sesame Street film. There's a certain aura knowing the clicks and whirrs come from the Enigma but the effect fades. It does smack of impenetrability but it's not a wholly satisfying experience - like peeling away the layers and, in the end, coming up with white chocolate Nestle's Crunch. Hrm.