Gypsy Pond Music 2005
(DME Fall 2005)
(Encore presentation
April 1, 2006 @ the Collage Concert)
(Note there isn't an eye, we aren't a group of masons.)
This fall semester I
participated in the University's Digital Music Ensemble again. Typically in the fall, DME creates a
piece called Gypsy Pond Music. The
inspiration for this piece is the topic of "Labyrinths in our Lives.
" As usual, we start with
some readings on labyrinths such as the story about Minos and the Minotaur and
have discussions using the readings as guides. We then have to start ideating rather quickly to beat the
Michigan cold because, typically, this installation is set up on the path next
to the pond on the way to the School of Music. After our many discussions, we came to agreement that
everyone has a personal labyrinth specific to their life. This is one that is constantly changing
and builds on events in the past.
One shape that was presented to represent this was a 3-D spiral,
spiraling up to a single point. Since
this ensemble is fairly large in the fall, there are two parts to the piece: a
visual part and an auditory part.
Auditory
Left: Tree with
loudspeakers and infrared reflector in front of the pond
Right: "Bliss Station" with infrared sensor and pyramid
To represent our
"individual spiraling labyrinths" with audio, every member of the
ensemble went around collecting audio samples of things that reminded them of
their journey through their personal labyrinth of life. These samples ranged from the Super
Mario Bros. theme song to out of tune violins. All these samples were gathered and randomly divided into 3
groups. Each group of samples was
assigned to a "bliss station," or an infrared sensor as seen
above. When someone would stand in
front of the sensor a random audio sample would be triggered. The longer the individual would stand
there, the more samples would be triggered and the more they would be
repeated. The idea is, that every
time you step up to a bliss station, the experience would be different, and
would build on itself. This was
all controlled through a few EZIOs and MAX/MSP.
Radio Interview
(courtesy of WCBN)
Click
here for initial interview (4:33)
Click
here for sample audio from piece (16:12)
Click
here for post interview (11:42)
Visual
Pyramids floating on the
pond (pictures don't
do them justice)
Through the process of
ideation for this project, one step is to propose an impossible project. One of the proposed projects involved the
participant looking up at the night sky and following an ever-changing
labyrinth in the stars. This
sparked ideas for a possible project that would be very similar, except on the
pond. The idea was to create
glowing objects that would float on the pond and move into different
formations. The end result was
about 16 pyramid structures with flashlights inside controlled by a
microcontrollers that would randomly change the intensity of the light. This gave the illusion of ever-changing
constellations on the water. The
end result was gorgeous, like little diamonds suspended in the water.
This project would not
have been possible without the aid of Roger Arnett, Greg Laman, Michael
Rodemer, and Stephen Rush.
*This piece will be set
up again outside the Collage Concert at Hill Auditorium on April 1, 2006. Come check it out.*
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