Aus Electronic '93

THE CLONED SOUND

A MULTIMEDIAL INTERACTIVE COMPOSITION FOR THE KRONOS QUARTET

Natural sounds - produced by the string quartet - are digitalized and thereby cloned. By means of digitalization it is possible to penetrate right to the very smallest parts of the sounds, to shred them, to put them together again, to superimpose them, add, multiply. Interventions in the frequency spectrums and manipulations of the wave forms enable the sounds to be mutated until they are no longer recognisable. These sound manipulations together with growth phenomena in the filed of tension with the classical string quartet form the basis of this compositionary work.
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LASER LIGHT IN THE INTERACTIVE PERFORMANCE

Laser light possesses several features which can only be realized with the utmost of difficulty by other light sources, or even not at all. Depending on the type of laser, there is a light beam with a high degree of intensity, low divergence (dispersion) and different colors. The light is coherent i.e.. e. the individual light waves vibrate differently to sun or bulb light in phase and are, "so-to-speak", emitted in cadence.
In the different physical features are used. As the light is very finely concentrated when the beam emerges, it can be deflected via relatively small and consequently quick moving mirrors. This ability to deflect quickly also makes the projection of images possible, the shape of which can be scanned so quickly that the impression of closed line outlines develop for the eye. These figures stored as vector graphics can be called up in real time, and in addition to this, can be manipulated in their characteristics. In this way, musical parameters control picture size, distortion and "writing" speed. Similarly, the speed of metamorphosis between several images can be determined directly by the musicians. The concept for the interactive software "Phonola" is represented in the following graphics, whereby the inlet and outlets in bold print are used in the project "The Cloned Sound".
The coherence of the laser light is a prerequisite to produce interference figures and to produce hologram's. Interference figures develop when the laser light disperses through suitable materials and is superimposed with itself. Interferences even develop in the eye of the observer, giving the laser light a special quality which is only directly perceivable. Grids produced holographically are used for the reproduction of beams and figures.
The high degree of intensity of the laser light in connection with its low divergence makes it visible in the air, even over greater distances. As a result, there is an artistic medium available for representing connections and spatial light surfaces.

Whereas until now we have talked about the creative possibilities of laser images produced by music, the following will now describe the reversal of this allocation.
In "The Cloned Sound", laser light surfaces receive an additional function: They serve as an input medium for the generation of sound parameters in which a specially developed hardware and software follows shadows and reflections of objects being immersed in the light.
The software modules for the sound control, made of light data, have the working title "Digitus Package", commencing with the situation that one finger ("digitus") is immersed in the light zone. From the light reflex of the finger, or the hand, a rod or e. g. a violin bow, data are acquired relating to place, speed and duration (digitalization = to represent in a countable way). From this, new data sets are compiled which can be used for the production of sound and to influence sound. In this way, the place can determine the pitch and/or samples while the speed of immersion determines the volume. Lateral movement in the light surface modulates, for example, the sound timbre.
As long as the sensors detect only a few reflexes, the digitus provides many more possibilities for sound manipulation; as soon as a large number of fingers (or hands, or rods) reach into the light surface, the sound manipulation subsides in favor of an "unlimited" polyphone game.
"Phonola" and "Digitus" are a step towards interactive freedom of creation. While the laser light in "Digitus" becomes a sensor which can be used to control sound parameters, with "Phonola" every variation possibility and the entire wealth of nuances of musical expression media are available, controlled in real time and to control visual happenings in an improvisatorial manner.