Sounding the Winds
Sounding the Winds is a new instrument/sound installation that uses the movent of a kite in the wind as a gestural controller, generating a realtime electroacoustic environment in response to the kite's movements. Sensors placed on the kite measure changes in its orientation, speed and tension, transmitting the data to a ground-based computer via Bluetooth. Taking inspiration from the archetypal wind-played string instrument, the Aeolian harp, the underlying sound synthesis model used in Sounding the Winds is based on a physical model of a tensioned string, with the control data sent from the kite used to apply varying forces to the virtual string causing it to resonate and sound. This use of a virtual string to generate the sound also serves as an analogy to the very real string tethering the kite to the ground, itself under considerable tension and occasionally resonating audibly.
Instruments designed to be performed by the wind have an extensive history in both Western and other cultures. The Aeolian harp (Æolian harp or wind harp) is named after Aeolus, the ancient Greek god of the wind. In eighteenth century Europe, Aeolian harps were designed as household instruments, intended to be placed in an open window and thus 'sing' with the breezes. Aeolian harps also form the basis of a number of more recent sound sculpture designs. Ros Bandt has installed Aeolian Harps at Red Cliffs (1988) and Lake Mungo (1992) in Australia. Alan Lamb, another Australian composer, has made recordings of long telegraph wires 'singing' in the wind and has created very long wire installations such as his Wogarno Wire Installation, 2001.
Kites also have a history of being used as musical instruments and sound generating devices, a history that in some instances dates back thousands of years. Chinese Nantong Kites (Symphony on Air) lift into the air hundreds of whistles, large and small, made of gourds and bamboo. The Japanese Unari hums in the wind using narrow, ribbon shaped strings. The Cambodian Èk uses a sounding bow and is traditionally flown in the evening and through the night.
System Architecture
9ft (2.7432m) Delta Conyne style kite.
Dual-axis accelerometer measuring acceleration of the kite in two orthogonal axes.
Gyroscope measuring angular rotation of the kite.
Flex sensor (bend sensor), measuring the amount of deflection of the kite material.
A Micro CV Controller is used to convert the analogue control voltages output by the sensors to digital, transmitting the data to a ground based computer via Bluetooth. The range of the Bluetooth signal is approximately 100 meters.
................................................
Performances
Electrofringe 2005
Sunday 2nd October 2005
King Edward Park Newcastle NSW 3pm
................................................
Presentations
Electrofringe 2005
Sunday 2nd October 2005
City Hall Banquet Room
2-3pm |
