Soundcatchers 1991

Installation for 4 wall-mounted sound reflectors with integrated microphones; 11 wall-mounted sound reflectors and 2 resonators with integrated speakers; computer-controlled MIDI instruments.

Produced at the Elektronisches Studio of the TU Berlin. Programming assistance: Holger Becker.
Presentation: Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin, June 1991.

Soundcatchers was conceived for the courtyard of the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (the Berlin Social Science Research Centre). The objective of the work was to create a sound field which would change slowly in register and sound colour across the courtyard area. In addition, the sound content of the installation was to be regulated, with computer, by street noises from outside the installation site.

Various acrylglass reflectors with integrated microphones and loudspeakers were installed on the walls of the space. Reflectors with integrated microphones were placed at a height of approximately 15 meters and were directed toward the busy street in front of the building. A spectral analysis was periodically performed on the sounds picked up by the microphones. This spectral information was reshaped into various MIDI controls, thereby allowing sounds from the street to influence the sound content and activity of the installation.

Reflectors with integrated loudspeakers were placed in several parts of the courtyard. Small reflectors with various integrated high-frequency speakers were installed near the courtyard entrance and were directed into the open courtyard area. Relatively quiet high-frequency sounds played over these speakers were heard only from the courtyard side of the reflectors. Secondly, larger reflectors with integrated mid-range speakers, directed into the reflective corners of the courtyard, produced a diffuse sound colour further toward the interior of the space. Long resonators — such as those described in the installation Music for Passageways — with integrated low-range speakers were placed in a resonant area near one of the courtyard exits. This created a third area of low resonant sound. A gradual change in musical register and sound colour was perceived as one crossed the installation site. The activity of the installation itself reflected the overall activity of outdoor traffic sounds. This created slow changes in the character of the installation depending, for example, on the time of day or day of the week.

Soundcatchers, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin. June 1991