Issue 16 Autumn 2012 - Brunel University

“The computer itself becomes the instrument”
Describing his vision for this year’s event, professor Tanaka explained that
he wanted it to “cover the whole spectrum from popular electronic music to
academic study,” and “connect the beginnings of electronic music with the
latest developments, where the computer itself becomes the instrument.”
This new level of electronic music was exemplified by Benoît and
The Mandlebrots, a German band specialising in ‘live coding’. This
innovative performance practice combines algorithmic composition –
using algorithms to create music without human intervention – with
improvised, interactive computer programming by a live ‘laptop band’.
Many artists also use electronic interfacing to manipulate the sound of acoustic
instruments using a laptop. This can create new instruments that go on to
be successful in the public sphere as commercial musical instruments, such
as the Reactable, which has been used by Bjork ( www.reactable.com).
BEAM attendees were privileged to experience the premiere performance
of the Hackspace Big Band, who used digitally-altered acoustic instruments
to perform a long, varied instrumental piece with accompanying
visuals, generated live using a turntable-mounted projector.
Kaleidoscopic, impressionistic and fluid, the visuals perfectly complimented
the diversity and spontaneity of the band’s music, which developed from
grandiose cinematic montages of uneasy-sounding strings, punctuated
by electronic bleeps and glitches, and swelled to a crescendo of
howling feedback and surging noise. The finale, dropping from a
maelstrom of computer destruction to a fragile percussive ambience,
showcased the potential of such an unusual musical collective.
https://london.hackspace.org.uk
SYNTH-A-SKETCH: creating sonic drawings
Raphael Arar’s SYNTH-A-SKETCH is based on the Etch A Sketch
drawing toy, but with its mechanical functions rendered digitally.
The similarities between Raphael’s device and the Etch A Sketch mean that
operation is intuitive for anyone who has enjoyed the original toy. The user
creates images by turning knobs and shaking to clear, and the SYNTH-A-SKETCH
produces changing sounds alongside the images drawn, creating ‘sonic drawings.’
Arar describes his work as centring on ‘the synthesis of nostalgia and novelty,
resulting in sonic alloys indebted to the past’, and this idea is exemplified
by the SYNTH-A-SKETCH. The installation is intended as a comment on the
transience of modern society, as none of the user’s sonic drawings can be saved.
http://raphaelarar.com
Visualising sound
Lewis Sykes showcased his Augmented Tonoscope project, an attempt
to build “an instrument to visualise sound in such a way that what
you see and what you hear are analogues of each other.”
The Tonoscope is based on cymatics, a term derived from the Greek word
for ‘wave-like’ and which describes the effect that sound and vibration have
on materials. Sykes uses sound to vibrate a drum skin covered with sand: the
sand shifts into specific geometric shapes and patterns at certain frequencies.
Explaining the purpose of the project, Sykes stated that by connecting
visual and audio aspects, the Tonoscope may shift our perception of sound
and image so that we can “see/hear an object/sound simultaneously”.
Drawing upon the results of his experiments with the Tonoscope,
he aims to produce an interactive installation in which a
certain tone corresponds to a specific pattern or shape.
http://blog.lewissykes.info
http://vimeo.com/lewissykes
FeATUre :: reseArCH NeWs :: eXPRess MAGAZINe
25
Natural soundscapes:
a BEAM sleepover
From midnight on Saturday for 12 hours,
the main room of the Antonin Artaud
building turned into what Tanaka
described as a ‘black box space’, where
delegates spent the night immersed in
the natural soundscapes of Norwegian
sound artist Jana Winderen.
Winderen’s work takes her to some
of the most beautiful and remote
corners of the globe to capture ‘unseen
sources of sound’, such as the ‘audio
topography’ of the ocean under the
Norwegian glacier Brenndalsbreen, and
‘the depths of ice crevasses’ from the
icefjord Kangia, Greenland.
Tanaka praised as the unique sleepover
format of the concert as increasing our
awareness of the ubiquity of sound:
“We can close our eyes when we sleep
but we can’t close our ears – we sense
sound and hear in a different way.”
www.janawinderen.com
‘playing’ the
piano: open call
performances
The festival culminated with a slot
reserved for those artists selected
from the Open Call for proposals,
where home musicians and
professionals alike vied for a chance
to perform. Highlights included a
performance by Tychonas Michailidis,
who played a grand piano without
striking the keys: instead, he used
haptic (touch) technology, placing
computer-linked motors onto the
strings and affecting their vibrations
by moving a special glove over the
piano. The resulting composition
was as elaborate and graceful as the
performer’s gestures that created it.