The Contingency of Illuminated Music

Some thoughts on Todd's sound/light interaction piece.

I documented this (poorly) on my phone:

The setup is simple enough: a single, bare lightbulb mounted to a stand, a flight box with a portable amp/speaker, a 1/4" cable, and an iPad. What belies this gear is an interaction between the digital and the analog, between sound and light, operated by hand and at the subject's discretion of position. And it is here that I think a very interesting intersection occurs.

Sound, generated by the iPad, operates the light, that fluctuates voltage based on the sounds volume. Pitch didn't seem to have an immediate effect since the light was varying in degrees of brightness, louder sounds made the light brighter, a lower volume sound was dimmer. In turn, the iPad's sound is affected by the light.

This is a convergence of light waves and sound waves. Sound waves, much longer and "slower" than shorter, much "faster" light waves, is a interesting example of the way in which these two properties or "states" can and do interact. While both can reflect, refract, be diffused and absorbed, light travels through a vacuum while sound requires a medium to emit through. In this piece, the interaction between both is brought to attention and they become dependent on one another.

How does this question musicianship? This is an "instrument" that can be played. The performer's proximity to the light, ad as it seemed from the demo performance, angle and direction of approach also seem to affect the sound output. These positions could be mapped and recreated, and performed according to a score, with the intent of creating a unique sonic and visual effect. With experiment and practice one could come up with an interactive light-and-sound instrument that, depending on the options with the audio software on the iPad, be almost limitless with possibilities.

What are some of the "dependencies" about this piece? The light depends on the sound for activation, but he sound is also dependent on the light as well. Are both balanced? Is there one quality that might have a value or advantage over the other? Which one starts it, or how is it started? Is there a "primer" of some kind like the bulb on your lawnmower engine that you push in order to prepare the engine for its first step of combustion.

A larger deployment? A field of these lights mounted with enough room to move between them, and a map or other process to follow to create a sound and light "symphony". Perhaps the lights are arranged in a matrix, so the performer could have better access to a field of lights that, for example, where of a different wattage or type than the others. I assume that a frosted 60w incandescent bulb would have a differet affect on a light sensor than a clear 200w lamp; or fluorescent or halogen or mercury vapor or any number of light-emitting bulb.

Could pitch be represented by color (like a multi-led)? I've been looking into LED and Arduino-controlled devices. The possibilities for multi-color LED are extensive. Does this iPad and software react differently to colored light? Part of a Net.Art project I'm working on this semester has to do with local weather data and the creation and composition of colors based on this changing data. How might Todd's piece behave if the light source was colored, or maybe always changing colors?

How does this piece intersect the analog with the digital? This is an excellent example of how the analog (light, sound) interact with the digital (processing of both of these signals). Like I've said it provides an intersection, a crossroads where the two media meet, and they then rely on eachother and constantly change based on the gesture of the performer. Even in this stage of its development, the possibilities for the use of a piece like this are clear and, happily, without definition.