Sound Visualization Project for Education and Entertainment
Background
Having a great interest in music and sound visualization,
I enjoy combining the two for sometimes unexpected results.Ý This
proposal is that of a mobile art and science project combining both human
interaction in space and sound visualization.Ý For this project to
remain mobile, the set up would occupy an enclosed space (i.e. a classroom
or large room) with microphones monitoring sound levels in a few, distinct
locations.Ý Upon detection of noise or voices, the project would also
incorporate a video projection to illustrate a 3-D
model or map of the sound waves depending upon the individuals'
location within the space.Ý The purpose of this project is to raise
interest and awareness in children of the importance of sound, many times
filtered by our sense of hearing.Ý The visual projection would help
form a relationship of sound waves as a continuously changing landscape
not usually considered in everyday life. This project is primarily for
educational purposes to teach children the fun in sound and music, and
to instill in them an appreciation for their own voice and musical values.
Research
Through recent research topics, I have found that sound visualization
is nothing new.Ý Researchers, scientists, and artists alike have all
attempted to visualize sound for educational and entertainment purposes.Ý
Recent developments in technology have allowed for computers to even recognize
speech patterns of individual persons and musical instruments.Ý Many
other artists have created similar projects with interactive playgrounds,
noisemakers, and visual projection to great delight. Bill
and Mary Buchen have spent years designing and building
interactive sound sculptures across the country.Ý Stephen
Malinowski of Berkeley, California has spent over 20
years in refining what he calls the Music Animation Machine which tracks
sound along a timeline, often distinguishing amongst different instruments,
key changes, and harmonies produced in a piece.Ý In this context,
sound visualization is an aid for musicians to "see" the composition outside
of them hearing and feeling the music. See a quick demo here.Ý
I feel this technology should be more available to children for an early
understanding and appreciation of sound and music.
Installation
Though sound visualization has become quite advanced with
innumerable psychedelic and hallucinogenic effects, I intend to keep the
project simple, with actual peak and valley maps of sound picked up by
microphones.Ý For the classroom setting, four microphones at most
would be used to monitor sound levels.Ý These four microphones are
then attached to a stereo mixing board to distinguish the levels of each.Ý
From this mixing board are two audio output jacks.Ý One output is
run into an amplifier that will amplify the particiants' sounds into four
speakers placed within the room. The other output is wired into a single
laptop computer with adequate software for processing the signals from
each of the microphones.Ý The processed sound signals trigger visual
displays which are thenÝ projected onto a wall by a single video projector.Ý
The participants are then encouraged to vary their voices in tone, volume,
and distance from the microphones.Ý The interaction of several voices
will also affect the visual display of the sound waves.Ý I feel this
presentation of "science" in a visual and fun manner can be a great asset
to the classroom learning environment, and a new way for children to relate
the invisible with the visible world.
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Resources
This project would not require uncommon equipment, and is
easy to transport within a simple automobile.Ý The sound visualization
model would serve many education purposes--sound and voice appreciation,
music and tone recognition, and a visual element often lost in a static
textbook.Ý Funding for this project could be appropriated by individual
schools, often with most equipment already available.Ý Again this
project aims to raise interest and awareness in children of the importance
of sound, and the visual projection would help form a relationship of sound
waves as a continuously changing landscape.
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Sources Referenced
http://www.sjmusartr.org/content/exhibitions/proposal/
San Jose Museum of Art Artist Proposal Review Procedures.Ý Last
viewed March 3, 2003
http://www.24hrart.org.au/html
24HR Art - Proposal Guidelines.Ý Last viewed March 3, 2003
Ýhttp://well.com/user/smalin/
Music Animation Machine History.Ý Last view March 3, 2003
Ýhttp://userwww.sfsu.edu/~infoarts/
Alex Davies link.Ý Last viewed March 3, 2003
Bill and Mary Buchen link.Ý Last viewed March 3, 2003
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