GELUIDKUNSTENAAR
Fedde ten Berge
Soundboards / Porcelain
sound boards (2014) | interactive sound installation for SCHWEITZER and INTERSTORE DESIGN (Italy)
On request of renown interior design company Schweitzer and Swiss based visual artist Jacqueline Rommerts, I co-created an interactive sound installation of 'sound boards'.
The principle of the installation is based on porcelain plates that function as an instrument. When hit by mallets or drumsticks the plates will sing tones. The tones are sampled by small microphones inside the instrument and morphed by especially designed software running on an internal Raspberry PI. The altered sounds subsequently get sent back through speakers and headphones.
documentation video filmed by Malu Peeters in Dusseldorf (2014)
prototype video filmed by Mark Hazeleger in Bennebroek (2013)
CREDITS
Concept & realisation Jacqueline Rommerts
Sound Design & Interaction Design Fedde ten Berge, Malu Peeters, Marloes van Son
Produced by Schweitzer Project AG and Marco Dionisio
The 12 sound boards were part of the Schweitzer Project exhibition at Euroshop 2014 worldwide retail fair in Düsseldorf, Germany.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
The Sound Boards contain an open source computer system that is based on a Raspberry PI1A, for which a dedicated real time LINUX kernel was developed. This kernel made it possible to run the well known program environment Pure Data at low latency without errors. Within Pure Data the interaction and sound design was programmed.
The electronic sounds are designed in a way that the actual sounds of the porcelain plates are extended. The sound of the porcelain is picked up by four electret microphones that are mounted under the plates in the box. Several knock-sensors are attached to the porcelain and are used with Arduino as trigger signals to control the different parameters of the sound transformation and synthesis processes within Pure Data.
The electronic music techniques used are: 1) additive synthesis 2) modulation delay 3) sample playback speed 4) noise amplitude modulation 5) reverb.
When the system is untouched now and then a wind sound altered with the hissing of an accordeon can be heard. When the plates are hit by a performer different sound modules become active in a random order. Each module has its own characteristics and its own way to use the information that is coming from the porcelain.
The loudspeakers are mounted within the box and hidden behind the board to which the porcelain is attached. The sound produced by the loudspeakers indirectly comes out along the edges of the board and is mixed with the actual acoustic sound from the porcelain. In addition a mini-jack output is made so a performer can listen to the electronic sounds on headphone.
on the SOUND GARDEN
Interconnecting people’s senses, mixing the existing with the new; this means arousing curiosity and inspiring clients – inspiring you – to try out new experiences. When you create curiosity then you also create a desire for products in a surprisingly simple way. In our Sound Garden we awaken your curiosity, by addressing your senses: choose the sound installation that inspires you visually and then listen to the melody. Each installation is individually designed and sounds very different to the others. Artist Jacqueline Rommerts created this sound installation specifically for u
www.schweitzerproject.com
www.interstore.it
www.maluopeeters.org
www.marloesvanson.com