The Balance

The Balance is a beautiful visual representation of two sound waves colliding. The video created by Lithuanian artist Rimantas Lukavicius, shows us the sound traveling trough air, a thing we will never be able to see.

There is no explanation to be found on how the video was made, and if an analysis of the actual sound we hear was used as input. I guess it is just the aesthetics that count, this time. 

(via @kamisir)

Ice Records

For Langjökull, Snæfellsjökull, Solheimajökull, artist Katie Paterson recorded the sound of three glaciers in Iceland. She then pressed these sounds on three records made of the melt water of these three glaciers. Three turn tables played the records for nearly two hours until they completely melted. A sample of one of the records can be heard here. 

It seems like the ultimate piece of conceptual art. Next to that it points at present environmental problems like global warming an the perishability of our planet in a beautiful, subtle way. 

(via Joachim Baan)

Listening Ears

These concrete 'Listening Ears' in Denge, England, work the same as the Sonic Marshmallows we have seen before. They serve a different purpose though, as they were used to detect slow moving enemy planes in the years before radar was invented. 

The sound waves reflect on the surface and concentrate in the middle, where most probably a microphone was attached. This technique does work - try holding the palm of your hand behind your ear, you will hear things better! - but as planes became faster and radar was invented around 1935, these Listening Ears became obsolete. 

Original Sound Track

Original Sound Track is a simple but wonderful concept by Ricardo Seola: a combination of a wooden toy train and a music box. The metal keys on the train are plucked by the pins on the track. 

The tracks can be put together in different ways, creating different arrangements of the same song. This will teach children about music and composition. The idea is to have more songs available so combining them would also be possible. 

I think it is a great idea to combine toys with music in an original and educative way (not that plastic crap with noisy sound chips inside). For this train the question is: will it work? 

(via Joachim Baan)

The Sound of Wood

While creating new and experimental instruments using technology is great, sometimes it is good to be reminded of where our musical instruments originate. In a big forest for instance, where a huge tree is growing for many years.  

The Sound of Wood, a short movie by Anthony Edels, makes us aware again of the process of the creation of a great instrument, handcrafted with love. 

 (via Danny de Graan)

Journal de Nîmes - Otherworldly Sounds

Denim inspired boutique Tenue de Nîmes celebrates her first anniversary with the third edition of the quarterly paper Journal the Nîmes. I'm honored to be one of the contributors to this Journal, with Japan as main theme. 

I wrote an article about Japanese music, combined with reviews of two Japanese artists - YMCK and Susumu Yokota. So if you are in Amsterdam, head to the Elandsgracht and grab one, while Menno and René guide you through their collection of beautiful garments, or click on the image to read it online.

Traffic

My brother Michiel asked me for some sonic support for his motion graphics experiments. So first I gave him a rhythm to sync his motion to, and afterwards I added the sound effects. 

A nice case of sound design under pressure, as I didn not have much time to spend on it. Looking for the right sounds for the falling blocks I dug up a pack of old macaroni and threw it on the floor. After some layering and pitch shifting, it works quite well. 

Sometimes it's good to let go of perfectionism, just give yourself a few limitations in time and resources and do something fun with it. Let us not stop playing!

Quintetto

The vertical movement of the fishes in these five aquariums is captured by a video camera and this data is used to influence the sounds we hear. So in this sound installations it is the fishes who conduct the music.

Quintetto is an installation by Quiet Ensemble in collaboration with Aesop Studio. They attempt to reveal what they call "invisible concerts of everyday life". As the fishes (most probably) do not know what their movement results in, the live concert they create will never be exactly the same.

Syn Chron

It is not the latest project by Carsten Nicolai, but this site was not around by 2004, so I still want to share this with you, just because it creates such a beautiful image. You will have to imagine the sound. 

Syn Chron is an integral sculpture of light, sound and architecture. The images projected on the surface of the object are synchronized to sound, and the object forms an acoustic resonance body.

Sonic Fabric

Do you still have a cassette deck in your home stereo system? I bet many people still have some old tapes somewhere catching dust in a shoe box under the bed. Well, with Sonic Fabric you can wear those old mix tapes.

Sonic Fabric, created by Alyce Santoro, is woven from 50% prerecorded audio cassette tape and 50% cotton. And it can even be played. While moving a special glove with a tape head over the fabric, a mixture of recordings can be heard.  

The original sounds on the tapes are influential recordings in Santoro's life, from her high school punk band to ambient city street noises, the Beatles and Pachelbel. A highly personal piece of apparel!

(via Noise For Airports)

Update on Friday, November 13, 2009 at 14:12 by admin

A nice video of the production of the Sonic Fabric is available on YouTube.