The Midas Project: Paul Thomas and the sound of atoms vibrating — The Midas Project gathers data from an Atomic Force Microscope focusing on the particles that exist at the interface between skin and gold. The work examines the data gathered at the nano level to investigate how we become part of the world. This project explores and extends the principles of visualising the infinite smallness through new technologies. The research investigates questions of nanotechnological spatial boundaries and turns the infinitely small into an audible and palpable experience.

Midas project from Paul Thomas on Vimeo Continue reading

Electrical Walks with Christina Kubsich :: Launch - September 10, 2008; 5:30 - 8:30 pm :: OBORO New Media Lab, 4001 Berri, 2nd floor, Montreal :: Headphones available from September 11-20, 2008 at Goethe-Institut Montréal, 418, Sherbrooke East) (Free) For more information, see press release.

For the first time in Canada, and concurrently in Quebec City and Montreal, Christina Kubisch presents her Electrical Walks, where members of the public are invited to pace the urban space with headphones specially developed by the artist to transform electromagnetic fields into audible frequencies.

WORKSHOP: Electromagnetic Explorations of the City :: September 16 - 18, 2008 :: OBORO’s New Media Lab. Continue reading

Finally found a use for the NY Times from Bill Orcutt on Vimeo. Continue reading

Duncan Wilson created OTTO with Manolis Kelaidis at the Royal College of Art.

OTTO (Greek for ‘ear’) is a device that makes hidden sounds audible. This is achieved via a thin polymer piezoelectric contact that senses weak vibrations and plays them as a sound through an integrated speaker. OTTO can be positioned on almost any surface through a combination of suction and magnets. By placing several units on different objects, one can select and create a new sonic experience and a form of ambient music appreciation, thereby utilising our space as a multidirectional audio platform. Continue reading

Visit pank.tv (click on DNA)to see a video and hear the sonification of GENE - LUXR :: ORGANISM - VIBRIO :: FISCHERI TRANSLATION - CNA :: It’s a one-minute sample and quite beautiful.

According to the very limited information on the site, DNA, mRNA and Protein sequences are translated into MIDI to generate the sound and control the image variables in realtime. When presented in live performance a MIDI controller is used. The gene information and sequences are available here. Other audio samples are available here.

Mikro is a series of improvised performances using the immediate surroundings as raw material: A microscope captures everyday objects and surfaces like wallpaper, coins, clothing, furniture, newspapers and transforms it into an explosive universe of textures. Contact microphones and electromagnetic sniffers pick up unhearable sounds to create the live soundtrack. Mikro is a collaboration between HC Gilje (video) and Justin Bennett (sound). Performances so far: Paradiso (Amsterdam), IMAL (Brussels), TAG (den Haag), DNK (Amsterdam), Bergen Kunsthall Landmark (Bergen), Laznia (Gdansk) [posted on HC Gilje blog]

Ground Breaking - Experience Past Landscapes in Grains and Pixels by Paul Adderley & Michael Young: In this installation, a computer explores and represents nearly 10,000 years of soil records, revealing them in different colours and perspectives.

Landscapes reflect the lives and histories of the people who live in them. Scientific analysis of the soil can be used to examine how people lived in the past and provide lessons for future management of landscapes in extreme or fragile environments. We invite you to become part of the shifting scenes of the Sahel in image and sound and reflect upon its presence and history… Continue reading

RGB musiclab: pixels into music - There’s a downloadable freeware application that converts the RGB (Red, Green & Blue) values of an image to chromatic scale sounds. The program reads RGB value of pixels from the top left to the bottom right of an image. 1 pixel makes a harmony of three note of RGB value, & the length of note is determined by brightness of the pixel. Continue reading

In an August 24th post on Short Sharp Science, David Cohen, New Scientist features editor, speaks of the strange missions on which New Scientist writers can be sent. He goes on to tell the story of how one morning early this August he got up at the crack of dawn and drove down Death Valley highway to the Dumont Dunes (CA) – “one of only 33 known sites worldwide where dunes have been known to sing.” His mission: to hear the singing. Once there

I sat down, dug my hands into the sand and started inching down the slope, feet-first like a giant caterpillar. Nothing happened. Sure, sand was moving, but all I could hear were gentle burping noises emanating from the sand beneath my feet with every push. I checked no-one was watching (imagine the humiliation of coming all this way and not hearing a thing) then dug my arms deeper into the sand and sped up. This sucker was going to sing if I had to dig up half the dune.
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Glass shards, glaciers, trees, hyenas, and whales Cheryl E. Leonard’s music finds its raw materials just about anywhere. Her works embrace the spectrum of musical possibilities: improvised to composed, acoustic to electronic, diaphanous to bombastic, notes to noise. These investigations often include the creation of new instruments, primarily from found materials.

In Music for Rocks and Water three performers play water and a variety of rocks, which are dripped, drizzled, poured, rolled, rocked, brushed, rubbed, stacked and even tickled. Sometimes the rocks are played underwater. Listen: Continue reading