MATRIXSYNTH: ::vtol:: sonometer


Tuesday, January 22, 2019

::vtol:: sonometer


::vtol:: sonometer from ::vtol:: on Vimeo.


A new mechanical sonic creation from ::vtol::

"page - http://vtol.cc/filter/works/sonometer

Sonometer is an automatic sound object (monochord) which changes string pitch (tension) by using an ultra-slow motor. It takes 40 minutes to reach the highest note and 36 minutes to drop it down. Because of extremely low speed, it's almost impossible to recognize changes of the pitch in the realtime, only by comparing the pitch after at least 30 seconds.

It uses electromagnetic coil feedback bow aka eBow to activate the string and piezo pickup. Additional electromagnetic solenoid is used as retrigger and random rhythmical element."

"Time is one of the most complex issues in contemporary sound art. On the one hand the category of time has always served as dividing line, separating music (as a particular form of sound art) from a number of other sub-types of creative interpretation of sound. On the other hand, this measure is used to indicate the extent of the audience’s engagement in the perception of a work of art: whether this is performance art, a musical performance or listening to a sound installation.

Recently I have been creating more and more frequently works arranged around some virtually imperceptible or insignificant processes and phenomena. To all intents and purposes, this is based on the practice of seeking the boundaries of perception and the frontiers of the feasible, which is on each occasion transformed into an attempt to reduce to its logical conclusion a work of art, whose concept emerges from similar studies.

Sonometer is simultaneously a sound installation and instrument, a homage to the heritage of Alvin Lucier and reference to contemporary sound object automation experiments. The super-slow engine draws out over 40 minutes one single string which oscillates in response to an electromagnetic bow. The speed of uptake of the tone is so insignificant that the difference in the pitch can only be perceived after the passage of a certain amount of time. After attaining the maximum tension point, the reverse process starts, taking in total 36 minutes."

1 comment:

  1. My father would have called this industrial masturbation.

    ReplyDelete

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