I argue that sound is a physical
entity which has weight, color,
shape, and texture, and may be
rebuilt, reshaped and reoriented
in a three-dimensional space.
In this, I refer not only to
the physical properties of sound,
but to a series of cognitive
processes which result in our
visualization of sound as that
which holds these physical
characteristics. I refer also
to our ability and tendency to
shift or focus sound perceptively,
selectively bringing portions
to the forefront or pushing them
to the background.
I chose a phrase from a poem
and fragmented it into overlaying
parts which became the sixteen
sounds mapped to the sixteen
squares. The spoken word offers
a particular sense of physicality
in sound, demonstrating properties
such as weight, color, and shape,
and encouraging a process of
visualization in listening. In
addition, the fragmenting of a
phrase gives the listener a sense
of parts and a whole, so that, as
one moves through this piece, one
gets a sense that he or she is
displacing parts of a single sound
and that there is connectivity
amongst those parts.
Sixteen sounds are mapped to
sixteen square mats, laid out in
grid formation, in this piece. The
respective position of the occupied
square to those bordering it
indicates the placement of sound.
Standing on a square triggers the
sounds associated with each
bordering square. Moving from
one square to the next displaces
sound into the space which was
formerly occupied, causing sound
to move across the space.
(this is further explained
in the structure section)
This phrase is taken from a
poem by Yusef Komunyakaa
entitled Rhythm Method.
Though the poem ventures into
territory I am not dealing
with in this piece, for me
this phrase captures elements
of sound I am trying convey.
Words like weight, small,
and selves conjure a sense
of physicality in sound with
respect to the body. Other
words such as depends and
silences make reference to an
idea at the center of my
research and this project, that
silence shapes sound, acting as
conductor and interrupter and
creating patterns or rhythm.
The
Handy Board, created at and
licensed by MIT, operates as a
small computer which hosts an
operating system and programming
environments such as the most
commonly used Interactive C.
Writing in Interactive C, I
created a small application
which lives on the Handy Board
and processes sensor input for
output to the server portion of
my Java application. I also used
the
Expansion Board, which plugs
into the Handy Board, for the ten
additional analog ports it offers,
enabling the input of all sixteen
mats.
The application runs on two
NT stations, each of which
outputs two channels of sound.
The computers are connected
via ethernet cards and either
an external network or a simple
crossover cable, enabling
communication between the two
machines. The application
itself operates as a server
with two clients, one on each
machine. This is further
detailed in the
software portion
of this section. I built a simple
wooden structure which serves to
house the computers, monitor,
and Handy Board, and provide a
place for participants to sit.
The entirety of this application
was written in Java. I used
standard Java packages to
register movement on the mats
and keep track of the position
of each sound, and I used
Quicktime for Java packages to
enable sound playback and
panning. Because each of the
two machines is able to play
only two channels of sound, I
created three parts of this
application, a server, and two
clients.
The server receives sensor information
being passed to the serial port from the
Handy Board. The server then takes that
information and passes it to each client
simultaneously. The clients then each
make decisions as to which sounds to
pan and play, and in what channels, based
on which sensor was triggered, ie., which
mat was stepped on.
I began by writing a small application
in which keys pressed controlled
colors in the same way that, later,
sensors triggered would control sounds.
The mats are built of vinyl, foam,
copper tape and copper wire. There
is a top and bottom layer of each
mat separated by strips of foam.
The top layer is blue vinyl with a
layer of thicker clear vinyl adhered
to the outside for sheen and
protection. The bottom is a single
piece of clear vinyl. Copper tape
is laid out in a winding fashion on
the inside of both top and bottom
layers. Attached to the bottom
amidst the copper tape are strips
of foam. One end of the wires are
fixed to the ends of the copper tape
on both layers, and the other end
placed in sixteen analog ports on
the Handy Board. When the mats
are stepped on and the two layers
make contact, the circuit is
completed and this registers as an
analog value in the Handy Board.
Two pairs of Cambridge Soundworks
powered speakers are positioned at
(1,2) and (3,4) respectively in
the diagram to the right, with the
grid of mats in the center. The
satellite portion of the speakers
are velcro mounted on stands and
sit 48" high. Subwoofers sit at
each side of the wooden structure
which house the computers, monitor
and Handy Board. Because low
registers of sound are non-directional,
their placement is not significant.
Sixteen sounds are mapped to
the sixteen squares, or mats,
in this piece. In the diagram
to the left, X marks the
person in the space. In the
first position, the sounds
mapped to the bordering
squares are 'A', 'B', 'C',
and D'. Therefore, as is
indicated, these four sounds
are heard in their respective
speakers. When person 'X'
takes a step to the right,
sound 'C' is displaced into
the space from which person
'X' came. As a result, sound
'C' pans from the speaker
on the right to the left.
Now, sound 'C' is heard on the
left, and three new sounds
which are mapped to the new
bordering squares are heard.
If person 'X' were to take one
more step to the right, sound
'F' would pan to the left and
the speaker on the right would
be silent, as there is no
bordering square on the right.
This is the basic structure of
sound, and as a person moves
through the space, sound is
constantly being displaced
and repositioned. Click on the
icon to the left to step
through a sequence of
movements.
Click on the image fragments
below and to the right to view
sequences of interaction with the
piece. The approach varied with
each participant - some were wary
of walking on it, some were bold
but stepped carefully from square
to square. Still others tried to
play it as if it were an instrument,
and others seemed to think of it
as a puzzle and tried to solve it.
