Audio

i. NOIEBORDER ENSEMBLE: Master Control
ii. Window Microphone

NOIEBORDER ENSEMBLE: Master Control

Master Control

Thursday, March 4, 2010 at 7:30 pm

Lambton Tower, Studio A, University of Windsor

featuring works by  Trevor Pittman, Chris McNamara, John Cage, blackhole-factory (Martin Slawig, Elke Utermöhlen) and The Noiseborder Ensemble (Brent Lee, Chris McNamara, Patrick Nickleson, Nick Papador, Trevor Pittman, Sigi Torinus) with guests Stephen Surlin and Justin Langlois.

- The Noiseborderensemble.blogspot.com

This was a great performance experience. Everyone involved was so inspiring and creative, making it a fun and instructive few days.
I was especially happy to have worked with Martin Slawig, Elke Utermöhlen of the blackhole-factory. The pair came to Sigi Torinus’ Digital Media class to give some lectures/demos on Max/MSP/Jitter and documentation of some of their performances. Especially fitting because I was intending to use Max/MSP/Jitter in the performance Master Control with the NBE in Lambton Tower, Studio A at theUniversity of Windsor, where I am completing my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Arts.
You can see me seated at the far left. I’m using a patch I made in Max/MSP/Jitter to draw on projections on the screen across to me. This image comes from a live video feed attached to the DV camera that is next to me. I pointed the camera at the musicians, the instruments, etc.
In the picture above, you can see Elke Utermöhlen recording vocals into a Max/MSP/Jitter patch on her laptop. Performing in the background, Patrick Nickleson and Brent Lee.

In the picture above, you can see the small DV camera to the right of Martin Slawig, it’s pointing at the bongos to the right of it; this is being projected onto the walls and I am drawing over it with the mouse on my laptop via Max5 patch.

Photos are from The Noiseborderensemble.blogspot.com posted by Sigi Torinus.


Window Microphone

 

Window Microphone (View From Inside)

Window Microphone (View From Outside)

Window Microphone (Piezo Disc)

Window Microphone (Bread Board)

Window Microphone (1/4 Inch Cable)

Window Microphone (Mic-Preamp, Compressor and Headphones)

Window Microphone (Recording Equipment)

Window Microphone

Piezo disc, breadboard, wire and recording equipment

Stephen Surlin 2010

This project was part of Broken City Lab‘s “Storefront Residencies for Social Innovation” which took place between June 11 and July 11, 2010. I entered the project with an impromptu idea to use some of the minimalist audio recording technology I had been working with, especially the piezoelectric disc.

“For 30 days, this project will call on over 25 different artists, writers, designers, restauranteurs, musicians, architects, archivists, and other interested parties to occupy a space in downtown Windsor for up to one month in June and July 2010 to attempt to intervene with the everyday realities of skyrocketing vacancy rates, failing economic strategies, and a place in need of new imagination.”

-Broken City Lab

My process called upon the ethos of the Broken City Lab by literally and metaphorically “listening” to the city through a piezoelectric discattached to the window, which turns the entire window into a large microphone. The vibrations that the large diaphragmatic window catches is turned into an electrical frequency that can be amplified and heard/recorded.

The amplified sound could be listened to by any of the visitors of the storefront during open hours. This invites the audience to engage with the city in a different way. The audio characteristics of this microphone mainly picks up the low rumbly frequencies of distant busses and the piercing tone of birds and footsteps, sometimes the faint murmur of talking could be heard when small groups would collect outside of the storefront windows.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 35 other followers