This is a proposal for participation in the upcoming “Theatre for the Ears – audio/visualizations” festival.
Instrumentation
The proposed piece will be performed on invented instruments which combine visual, cymatic, and electro-acoustic elements. These instruments are based on an electro-acoustic instrument known as a “speaker/drum“. A speaker/drum is a drum fitted with a drum skin on one end and a speaker installed into the other end. The result is a drum which can be played both as an acoustic instrument and an electric one, as it can be either struck on the head or resonated via the embedded speaker. Additionally, by placing objects on the drum skin a variety of acoustic and kinesthetic effects can be generated.
In this piece, the speaker/drum becomes a cymatic visualization system by adapting two new attributes: water and light. By sealing water within a container and placing it upon the resonating drum, cymatic patterns are created within the fluid. Placing a light-source within the drum allows these cymatic effects to be highlight and projected.
For proof of concept, see these videos:
The piece will be played on two of these speaker/drums. Each drum will receive a separate audio signal, creating two distinct electro-acoustic cymatic visualization systems. Audio signals sent to the drums will be generated by mechanical sources such as metronomes, clocks, and turntables, as well as percussively controlled contact mics. These mechanical sources will in turn be processed electronically to create a wide range of sonic and visual effects. Futhermore, each of the speaker/drums would be monitored by one or more video cameras and projected in order to enlarge the cymatic visualizations.
Music
The musical aspect of the piece is a soundscape inspired by the concept of Time. It begins quietly in a darkened room. At first only acoustic, mechanical motion is heard. Lights within the drums are faded up on still water. Tones are injected and the water begins to resonate. The piece langours here in harmony for some time. As the mechanical sound sources are mixed in, an emergent circadian rhythm is observed within the water. Elements of analog synthesis and electronic processing are introduced to the rhythm, increasing in tonal and dynamic range. As the piece nears crescendo, the audio signal to each drum is intermittently cut completely, shifting focus now to one of the instruments at a time. This new movement builds until it is cut off entirely and the piece ends again in darkness with only the mechanical motion audible.
Artist Bio
Frederick Brummer is a musician, designer, and sound artist.
In a previous life he toured the European underground, performing live electronica to ravers and bass freaks.
Feeling a need to make electronic music more tactile, Frederick began building electro-acoustic synthesizers out of magnets and drums.
Since his first piece showed in 2008 his work has been exhibited at numerous galleries and events including the Surrey Art Gallery,
Science World, the New Forms Festival, and the Western Front. Frederick’s work leverages strange integrations of high and low tech
to produce fantastic contraptions from an adjacent reality where “digital” still means “fingery”.