Protective Goggle Room, Environment for 12 Channel Audio Experimentation
s o u n d s
t e c h n i c a l
t h a n k s

 Download installation flyer

»SOUND CLIP»
»Download a MP3 sound clip of
Wild Electric Kingdom

 
 
 

This is what the EPA darkroom looked like before the installation.

Before photograph of Protective Goggle Room

The Protective Google room finished!

NOTE**
This sound installation by Derek Morton ran through the month of October 2002 at the Art-O-Matic festival in DC. Although it is officially closed please check out the sound clips that were specially recorded to simulate the environment.

Step inside and shut the door. Subdued lighting will heighten your auditory perception in this modified space that was formerly a darkroom.
 
The exhibit, "Wild Electric Kingdom", focused on the juxtaposition of non-musical elements of sound, such as density, texture, and "spatialization", while engaging the listener's expectation of music performance. Twelve channels of synthesized sound are performed via digital playback devices (compact disc players) using random algorithms (shuffle play) to achieve an ever-unfolding sound sculpture. The generative composition, based on chance, is not meant to highlight any specific process or melodic aesthetic.
 
This installation developed from my interest in experimental electronic music and multi-channel audio playback systems. Rather than trying to emulate a real event in a real acoustic space (such as a choir in a Cathedral,or someone taking a shower in the bathroom) I prefer to contradict standardized "surround sound" principles to immerse the listener into another sonic reality.
 
Open your ears, close your eyes!

-Derek Morton
October 2002
 
____________________________________
This installation opened October 31st 2002
at Art-o-Matic.
401 M Street, SW, in Washington, DC
(College Park, Room 4, see Site Map)
____________________________________
 
 
s o u n d s

»Download a MP3 sample of "Wild Electric Kingdom"

The abstract sounds for "Wild Electric Kingdom" were all processed heavily with Sonic Foundry's Acoustic Mirror. The software emulates reverberation characteristics of actual acoustic spaces by a complex process called "convolution." By making recordings of real places then extracting what Sonic Foundry calls an impulse file, one can take this impulse file and process it with another sound file. Carefully using a variety of environment models (impulse files), from caves to small rooms, I tried create a collection of sounds that did not seem to "fit in the same room" and hopefully create sonic ambiguity.

Thanks to Davis White for providing some of the electronic sounds to tweak and process. The rest of the audio was purely created on my computer for this installation.
 
t e c h n i c a l
6 cd portable players w/random shuffle capability
6 cd-rs with 99 tracks each
6 pairs of multimedia speakers designed for home computers
4 100 watt Green light bulbs and fixtures
Dimmer for lights
1 dark green astro-turf - like carpet
Black Paint
Green twine
Mounting brackets for speakers
Black garbage bags
 
t h a n k s
Thanks to Davis White for sounds.
Nick Gayeski and Rebecca Mills for helping out constructing the room.
Anh Bui for design help with the flyers.