Everyday Listening

Qompendium x Cleartones

Hugo Verweij — Thu, 24 May 2012 05:34:29 +0000

The Cleartones project is still going strong! In a collaboration with Qompendium I created a gift for our visitors: a pair of special Qompendium x Cleartones ringtones. One is the letter “Q” in melodic Morse code. The other consists of a clear sound to grab the attention combined with a hidden message - the word QOMPENDIUM in Morse code, on a very low volume.

To complete the pack the nice folks at Qompendium created a set of 10 wallpapers to accompany the ringtones on your phone. iPhone and Andoid compatible. You’ll find the download link on the Cleartones website. Enjoy!

Voice Array

Hugo Verweij — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:08:44 +0000

It records your voice, then plays it back, cross fading into a cacophony of previously recorded samples. Voice Array, an installation created by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, also gives a visual representation of what’s being recorded by blinking its white LED’s.

In total, the installation can hold up to 288 samples, so your message won’t be captured inside of it for ever. When it gets pushed to the end of the row by a series of new recordings it gets one last moment of fame, before it will be deleted for ever:

Photos by Photo by: Antimodular Research - Found via The Emergent Locality

Audiograph

Hugo Verweij — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:13:32 +0000

Audiograph is like a seismograph for sound. It measures the sound level in a space and creates a visual timeline of this level. It’s like a real-time score of the everyday noise and the sounds we make. The installation was created by Christopher Ruggio.

Musical Stars

Hugo Verweij — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 21:21:08 +0000

I am happy to find out people actually notice it when I don’t post any new items for some time. Mark sent me a friendly reminder and he also suggested I’d mention these ‘Musical Stars’. No, I am not talking about the singing-and-acting type. There actually exists something called asteroseismology, the study of star sounds.

Stars oscillate on a - very - low frequency, which has to be pitched up many times to be heard by us humans. Scientists use the Kepler Space Telescope to measure these oscillations, and by the frequency they can tell the size of the stars. They combine this with the study of planets in the zone around the star where the temperature allows water to be liquid. Will this eventually lead us to the discovery of extraterrestrial life?

Wave of Matter

Hugo Verweij — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 17:08:49 +0000

The sound of the sound installation Wave of Matter is created in a way similar to the ocean drum we had at our house when I was young. Only this one is square, and huge. Due to its square form factor it produces short waves of noise, unlike the ongoing whoosh of an ocean drum. This does make it a bit less interesting, sonically.

This good looking installation was created by Tommi Grönlund and Petteri Nisunen, an artist duo based in Helsinki.

Via Yves de Mey

The Centre of Silence

Hugo Verweij — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 16:45:57 +0000

Jesper Norda created the sound installation The Centre of Silence for the Kalmar Konstmuseum. The installation consists of an empty room and sound, nothing else. A voice describes the space and the movement of air molecules in the room. In between the pieces of text the listener is treated to silence, a sine wave and white noise.

Power Model VII

Hugo Verweij — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 12:12:29 +0000

Power Model VII (White Power) is a sound installation by Henrik Rylander. All white keys of three electric organs are pressed down with clamps, creating a suspenseful soundscape that sounds surprisingly un-static.

Playing all those notes at the same time results in a massive sound blanket. Watch the video for an impression:

Paper Note

Hugo Verweij — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 15:41:13 +0000

Another nice looking physical representation of a sound wave is created by Andrew Spitz from { sound + design } in collaboration with interaction designer Andrew Nip. Paper Note is made using a laser cutter to create discs of paper who form the waveform when joined on a piece of string.

The video below gives a good impression of the process of creating the Paper Note:

Audio Visual

Hugo Verweij — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 19:59:26 +0000

Audio Visual, a project by Peter Crawley, shows us the waveforms of popular songs, neatly stitched on a piece of cardboard. Here we see a visual representation of Whole Lotta Love, with the waveform of one minute of audio on each line.

Next to these visualized waveforms Peter Crawley also creates stitched art themed around architecture and typography. Printed versions of his artwork can be found at Print Process.

Invisiball

Hugo Verweij — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 21:13:09 +0000

This looks like a promising game concept. I would really like to play this game. InvisiBall, by Håkan Lidbo is like a tennis game, except there is no ball, and it has to be played in the dark (or by blind players), as the only feedback that’s been given is in sound. Ten years ago I graduated with a racing game for the blind called Drive, this seems like an interesting addition to the same field.

Via Create Digital Music