Photos from Sound+Walk, presented by the Ojai Music Festival and Black Barn Sessions
Sextet #7 is a generative sound installation in 6 boxes. Each box improvises its own part, using a palette of field recordings, electronic sounds, and audio samples. The result is a spatialized imaginary soundscape that is constantly reinventing itself. Sextet #7 is an evolution of my past work with music boxes.
Sextet #7 audio
Every time Sextet #7 runs, it is different. This is just of one run of the piece.
Stellate Hexany Earth Chimes are 14 microtonal steel chimes, tuned in a 1-3-5-7 Stellate Hexany. They are installed at the Djerassi estate in Woodside, CA, USA and hung in a straight line for visitors to play with a stick.
The fundamental frequency is an upper 2/1 (octave) partial of the Schumann resonance 7.83 Hz. This Schumann resonance is basically the resonant frequency of the Earth’s electromagnetic field, and this resonant frequency is activated (or at least implied) when its upper partials are played on these chimes.
Inside of several cigar boxes, there are animated optical illusions which represent 3D tuning lattices. These objects float in space and play music, corresponding to the notes of a 1-3-5-7 “Stellate Hexany,” envisioned by Erv Wilson.
Sextets #1-5 are interactive wall-hanging sound pieces that combine micropolyphonic structures and post-industrial materials. Viewers/listeners are allowed to turn any/all of the knobs on the Sextets in order to create their own unique aleatoric experience.
Expanding on forms explored in prior music box-based projects like Requiem for György Ligeti, the five Sextetswere created at the Marin Headlands Center for the Arts in October 2014.
For several years I made 4-movement music boxes based on the concept for Requiem for György Ligeti. They are smaller and easier to make, and I sold them and gave them as gifts.
Requiem for György Ligeti is a giant music box created in memory of composer Gyorgy Ligeti, who died in June 2006. It was inspired by Ligeti’s Poem Symphonique, which involved 100 wind-up metronomes being set off at once. The Requiem was originally a part of Pandoras Box, a group installation that opened at the CalArts Main Gallery in March, 2007.
Requiem for György Ligeti played live
There are several ways to interact with the Requiem. The casual passerby can merely turn some of the silver knobs on the top of the box, each of which is attached to a different music box movement. If you are feeling more diligent, you can then push in the gold knob on the front of the box. This stops all of the movements from playing, so that you can wind up all 100. Once you have wound them all up, then pull the gold knob back out and they all start playing at once to create a micropolyphonic texture.There are several ways to interact with the Requiem. The casual passerby can merely turn some of the silver knobs on the top of the box, each of which is attached to a different music box movement. If you are feeling more diligent, you can then push in the gold knob on the front of the box. This stops all of the movements from playing, so that you can wind up all 100. Once you have wound them all up, then pull the gold knob back out and they all start playing at once to create a micropolyphonic texture.
