2015 INTERACTIVE AUDIO INSTALLATION

The sounds are comprised of selected field recordings made while I was resident artist in Malaysia, and generative synthesis. The combined effect of the synthesis produces a harmonic structure of detuned whole tone scales.

The project was made possible by Asia New Zealand Foundation, who awarded a residency to spend three months at Shalini Ganendra Fine Art in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Further info on the residency experience can be found at Stuff.co.nz (NZ) and Malay Mail (MY).

These techniques create, in terms of a musical analysis, both symmetry and lack of harmonic distinction between pitches. An individual who perceives a lack of harmonic distinction as an indistinct sound can determine their own interpretation of timbre via interactive components relating to amplitude, frequency, time and spatialisation.

I would like to invite participants to take the time to explore the rhythmic patterns, field recordings and synthesis firstly as an artist’s descriptive experience; and secondly as several signs comprising a system, and their relative meanings in the context of a temporal framework where modality focuses on the digital vernacular. I am interested in how participants engage with any perceived differences between notation, performance, synthesis and field recording, as these signs interpolate between one another as a result of their interaction with the piece.

Innumerable thanks to sound artists Nicolas Woollaston who designed the interface for this exhibition, and Malcolm Riddoch for his advice on programming and ambisonic implementation.