I propose a live, interactive installation in which sound is generated in real time by analog synthesis equipment that I have designed and built for this type of work. It is intended for interaction with an audience in a space with some acoustic isolation, such as a small room, but which is open in such a way that people wandering by may be drawn in by hearing it. A visual aspect is provided by the appearance of the equipment, including indicator lights monitoring electrical activity.
The work will generate sound patterns by means of oscillators inter-modulating in a complex manner, being modifiable by audience participation. It will proceed automatically, on its own, until affected by some interaction. The intent is to delight the audience with sights and sounds and by the experience of discovering the impact of their own actions. The work has no designated length, can run for as short or as long as desired, and can be scheduled into any time slot. People can come and go as they please.
That was the proposal I wrote to apply for the 2014 {Re}Happening event at the former site of Black Mountain College in North Carolina. At the time of writing I did not have the interactivity part worked out. Then I learned that a friend, Stephen Thomas Barnwell, was building a magnetic table joystick controller. He had seen an idea found on the Internet. I decided to build my own variation. I call it The Influencer, because while technically it is a control device, I like to think of it as influencing rather than controlling the patch.
My build puts all the circuitry into a 3x4x5 inch aluminum box, supported by 3/8-inch galvanized pipe over a 16-inch wok fastened to a wooden table. The circuit buffers each pot of the 2-axis joystick and provides range and offset pots for tweaking the outputs. I set it to approximately +/- 4.5 volts. Two standard nine volt batteries power it from within. With on-off switch! A 1/4-inch TRS jack for an insert cable feeds the two voltages to the synthesizer.
I pondered different ideas for the pendulum shaft, which had to be detachable for transport. The simplest idea worked. It is just a 5/8-inch wooden dowel, drilled down the center and filed to make a pressure-fit with the joystick handle. (A later version included some weights at the bottom to increase momentum.) A magnet is screwed onto the end. Various small magnets placed into the wok cause attraction or repulsion, depending on the polarity. It works well enough, but I want to raise the support and make the shaft longer. I made two of the pendulums in case one broke, which was precient. The first one was accidentally pulled off the shaft too many times during the event and lost its friction fit.
My wife, Diana Brewster, tricked it out with foliage, a green and white color theme, and lights! An excellent idea, since I am short on visual presentation. Here’s a little video of a trial run in my studio. The next post will have video and sound from the {Re}Happening installation.
