Inspired by experiments in abstract film-phonography, check explores the sonic potential of running sequences of patterns through a 16mm film projector. Collages composed of three different patterns and solid areas of black and white were composed and photocopied onto strips of clear film leader. The sequences provide not only the images that are projected onto the screen, but also the soundtrack to the film.
photosinebank is a piece for the 16-CdS and laptop. The performer controls swells of sine-wave clusters by casting shadows on the controller. This performance was recorded at the Audiotheque in Miami, FL as part of their Year-End Fest on December 26th, 2013. Listen to it here.
mixer things is a set of three improvisations on a Mackie 1202-VLZ3 and a laptop. Tones produced by routing the mixer's output signals to it's input jacks are recorded and layered by the laptop.Listen to it here.
Max Hammer, animation Carlos Dominguez, music/sound
Synopsis: Secrets of life explained through the persistance of vision.
Drawing inspiration from insect swarms and fog, the music for Understory swells in and out of tonalities and microrhythms that accent the world around the animation's protagonist. Multiple delay lines create these clouds of sound using only two samples - a low E on an electric guitar and a Bb on a Cherokee flute - transposed and polyphonically layered.
Music composed by Carlos Dominguez accompanies a video of a ski run by Max Hammer. The music is composed of harmonica and accordion samples taken from a session of improvisation with Phillip Hermans. Special thanks to Jessica Thompson for letting us use her accordion.
Upper Valley residents joined the Dartmouth Dance Ensemble with music composed by digital musics graduate student Carlos Dominguez, G'14.
Serving as the concert’s finale, “The End” looks at how individuals relate to community and the future. Each performer utilizes nine distinct dance moves in the piece executed in various comnbinations.
This project presents a control surface that combines a grid of photocells with a microcontroller to allow a musician to manipulate multiple analog components at once. A brief background on past uses of photocells for music and film composition and instrument-building introduces a few different implementations and performance contexts for the controller. Topics such as implementation, construction, performance scenarios and reflections on past performances of the controller are also discussed.
The optical soundtrack has a long history in experimental film as a means of image sonification. The technique translates image luminance into amplitude along the vertical axis, enabling the sonification of a wide variety of filmed patterns. While the technical challenges of working with film preclude casual exploration of the technique, digital implementation of optical image sonification allows interested users with skill sets outside of film to access this process as a means of sonifying video input.
