hEAR TOuch LISTEN

Beschreibung:

1st prize in the category music in architecture - performative and site specific sound installation, mit Florian Tuercke

Standort:

Austin/Texas

Zeitraum:

1. Preis - 2011

Each material, no matter if solid, liquid or gas, is based on sequencing molecular movements and vibrations, and any sequencing movement and vibration basically is sound. Humans have the ability to form and deform materials to create architectural structures. Each of these structures also has its specific frequencies. The site specific installation hEAR TOuch LISTEN deals with self-excitation, resonances and the natural frequencies of built structures. The handrails in the Bass Concert Hall lobby are used as a performative electro-acoustical instrument for a composition, that was created specifically for this situation.

hEAR TOuch LISTEN is a site-specific musical experiment that is in-situ created and replayed withthe natural resonances of parts of the building. The audience takes an active part in the performanceand experiences different aspects of perceiving sound.

A set of contact-microphones and contact speakers are attached to the handrails at each of the floorsof the Bass Concert Hall Lobby. The contact-mikrophones and contact-speakers are connected to each other in a way that a feed back-loop is created, whereas the handrail works as natural filter.The feedback is modified with a computer. In that way the handrail can be brought to vibrate in its natural resonances.

The score consists of three parts – participative sound-space trilogy

part 1: hear
The audience stands on the floors without touching the handrails. The handrail is brought to strong vibration in all its natural frequencies by feedback-loops. The handrail works as sound-source and thesound is naturally audible in the whole space.

part 2: touch
The audience touches the handrail. The natural frequencies of the handrail are limited to its very low and subsonic components. The audience feels the vibration of the handrail with their hands. Therewill almost no sound be audible in the space.

part 3: listen
The audience leans forward and holds their ears to the handrail. Sounds from outside the building(traffic, birds, people talking) are live played via the contact-speakers to the handrail. The handrail works as a natural filter. The natural resonance of the handrail limits the ambient sounds from outsidethe building to the frequencies of the handrail.

 

Clients:
Music in Architecture – Architecture in Music Symposium
University of Texas at Austin
The Center for American Architecture and Design
The College of Fine Arts
The Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music