One Knob To Rule Them All

flickr by Diego Stocco

"Diego Stocco The Conduit Shaping the Soundtrack LCO 3

I like to experiment with small electronic instruments, like the optical theremin. The pitch of this circuit responds to the intensity of external light, which makes it hard to play specific notes.
I wanted to find a better way to control not just the pitch but also the trigger of the sound in order to create rhythmic patterns. I used che chassis of an old device to host the circuit, connected a dimmer to control the intensity of a light bulb and a push-button switch to break the circuit, so I could control the note on/off. To fatten up the sound I connected it to a spring reverb, an hi-fi amp and two old speakers, recorded with a stereo microphone. The instrument needs to be be played in semi obscurity."

Update: some video via Diego:

Diego Stocco - LCO Light Controlled Oscillator from Diego Stocco on Vimeo.

"The LCO is an instrument I assembled when I was creating the score for "The Conduit". I used it as a starting point to create a variety of bass sounds, ambiences and strange noises.

The pitch of an optical theremin responds to the intensity of external light, which makes playing specific notes difficult. I wanted to find a better way to control not just the pitch but also the trigger of the sound in order to create rhythmic patterns. I used the chassis of an old device to host the circuit, connected a dimmer to control the intensity of a light bulb and a push-button switch to break the circuit, so I could control the note on/off. To fatten up the sound I connected it to a spring reverb, an hi-fi amp and two old speakers, recorded with a stereo microphone. The instrument needs to be be played in semi obscurity.

In this particular session I was also post-processing the sound of the LCO with modulated chains of comb-filtered delays and reverbs.

P.S. Careful with the volume, the sound gets pretty intense in the second half of the video."