Untitled Sound Objects by Pe Lang and Zimoun is a series of works displayed as installation, performance and autonomous objects. Physical materials are made to generate sound by vibrating them using computer controlled motors, machines and robots.

One example of this (shown in the top two images above) is as follows:

Vibrating motors cause glass plates, on which various materials are placed, to oscillate. The vibrations move the materials and the frictions caused by this generate sounds, which are amplified via contact microphones and edited through DSP (Digital Signal Processing). Through a multiple channel speaker system amplified sounds are projected and reassembled into new sound architectures. Continue reading

Longue Durée by Angie Eng and David Linton :: Finissage (closing party): March 21, 2008 7-9 pm :: Maison Populaire, 9 bis rue Dombasle - 93100 Montreuil.

Eng and Linton have been working in a similar vain exploring experimental cinema and sound in the electronic arts scene in New York. This is the first collaboration between these two artists who have spent a life dedicated to observing, manipulating, pushing the limits of vision and listening. Here at Maison Populaire, they have combined their ideas of nomadic movement (Eng) with continual optical spirals (Linton). Change in the perspective of character, window, reflection of light, scale and mirroring are subjects at hand. The sensitive observer will notice the subtleties in the connection between image and sound which affects one another. Continue reading

Duncan Wilson created OTTO with Manolis Kelaidis at the Royal College of Art.

OTTO (Greek for ‘ear’) is a device that makes hidden sounds audible. This is achieved via a thin polymer piezoelectric contact that senses weak vibrations and plays them as a sound through an integrated speaker. OTTO can be positioned on almost any surface through a combination of suction and magnets. By placing several units on different objects, one can select and create a new sonic experience and a form of ambient music appreciation, thereby utilising our space as a multidirectional audio platform. Continue reading

Sound Chair begins as a sound that is precisely crafted to form the physical shape of a chair when visualized as a 3-dimensional object using a volume, time, frequency line plot. The life-size chair is an exact replica of the soundwave graph. The result is a product with dual existence as both a “sound” & a “chair”. Continue reading

Sphere Of Influence - The Ball Project: Music, chance and games by Jon Rose.

Best known for his work on, around and about the violin, Jon Rose is a global performer, presenting his group and solo projects regularly in over 30 countries. He brings over 25 years experience pioneering the use of digital technology in live music performance to the Ball Project and this Festival outcome Sphere of Influence. The ball as symbol is universally recognised. A ball flying through space has an inherent mystery; it replicates our lonely and insecure position in the universe. To sport fans, the ball verges on being a sacred object. Ball games, especially in this sport-obsessed city, are nearly a religious rite. The earth is our favourite ball - our future on it less than certain. Continue reading

There are a number of fun and interesting things in Skelvik’s portfolio from the Oslo School of Architecture and Design in Norway. Among them is Listening Lamp (2004), just like an ordinary flexible reading lamp, except that the book is a audiobook, and the light is the transmitting medium. LED light has some very different properties than incandescent lamps. One is that you may modulate the electric current, making the LEDs oscillate in a way that may be received by photo sensitive receivers that is not very different from radio technology.

Sitting comfortably in your chair, one lamp on either side, you will get stereo quality, and a strange spatial sound experience. Moving your head wearing the headphones closer to one of the channels increases the volume. Adding physical response to the thrilling story, and, as Skjelvik writes, eventually a stiff neck…

Ouest Sound @ Soto #2 - Howard Stelzer, Jay Sullivan, and Brendan Murray :: July 26, 2007, 8pm :: Free (suggested donation $5-$10) :: Studio Soto, 63 Melcher St. Boston, MA 02210 :: 617-426-76786.

Ouest is a trio formed in 2004 to establish large bodies of static music. Ouest works slowly and patiently to build a sound field that is the product of activation of objects and amplification, not the deliberate interaction of players or instruments. Howard Stelzer plays in many live situations and records solo compositions, usually involving the manipulation of cassette tapes. He is the sole proprietor of Intransitive Recordings. Jay Sullivan makes music with amplified turntables, microphones, field recordings and occasionally a harmonium, and runs the We Break More label. Continue reading

“The Buddha Machine (by FM3) is a little plastic box that plays music. Specifically, FM3 constructed nine drones, varying from two seconds to 42 seconds, which repeat endlessly in the listener’s ear until the “track” is switched to the next drone (or the two AA batteries run out). The machine has its own built-in speaker, in case one would like to fill a room with the drones, but there is also a headphone jack for more personal meditative experiences. There’s a switch on the side that allows for traversal of the tracks, and a DC jack (though an adapter is not included) for those who would like the Buddha Machine experience be truly endless. In a way, it’s like the cheapest pre-loaded IPod you’ll ever be able to buy.” - excerpt from review at PopMatters.com. Download all 9 Buddha Machine loops (uncompressed .WAV format!!). Continue reading

Trimpin will deliver a keynote and give a workshop at The 7th International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME), organized by Harvestworks and New York University’s (NYU) Music Technology Program in partnership with LEMUR and the NYU Interactive Telecommunications, June 6-10, 2007.

Trimpin, a sound sculptor, composer, inventor, is one of the most stimulating one-man forces in music today. A specialist in interfacing computers with traditional acoustic instruments, he has developed a myriad of methods for playing, trombones, cymbals, pianos, and so forth with Macintosh computers. Continue reading

LEARNING AUDITORY MODELS OF MACHINE VOICES [PDF] by Kelly Dobson and Brian Whitman (MIT Media Lab) and Daniel P.W. Ellis (LabROSA, Electrical Engineering, Columbia University).

ABSTRACT: Vocal imitation is often found useful in Machine Therapy sessions as it creates an emphatic relational bridge between human and machine. The feedback of the machine directly responding to the person’s imitation can strengthen the trust of this connection. However, vocal imitation of machines often bear little resemblance to the target due to physiological limitations. In practice, we need a way to detect human vocalization of machine sounds that can generalize to new machines. Continue reading