Sound installation for 4DSOUND
2018
Supported by: 4DSOUND – Spatial Sound Institute and The Composer fund of The Icelandic National Broadcasting Service and STEF.
Technical support: Vladimir Razhev
Sonic storm is an immersive sound installation composed with the 4DSOUND system at the Spatial Sound Institute in Budapest in 2018. The piece explores a hurricane as an audio-physical metaphor.
In 2018, I was an artist-in-residence at the Spatial Sound Institute in Budapest where I worked on Sonic storm – a sound sculpture inspired by the movement within a hurricane. The revolving structure of the hurricane creates physical tension but in its centre drops into a calm silence: in the eye of the storm. Both delicate and alive, the piece studies the conversation between frequencies once they collide in space.
Sonic storm explores the potential of sonic architecture. My research for the piece focuses on how to generate the physical and audible sensation of construction of sound with dimensional depths; a sculpture that one can only sense by exploring space. As one moves from sound to sound, the listener passes through different rooms of alternating beatings and frequencies. Sounds become almost tactile, like another layer that weights on your skin. And while you explore the space, you may notice an increasing heaviness as you aim towards the light, until it suddenly drops. Dense vibrations sweep off your shoulders as you walk into silence.
Directly related to the fourth dimension of the 4DSOUND System, Sonic Storm is perceived whilst moving through space. Progression can be experienced with each one’s tempo while scanning the multiple areas within the room. At a certain point in space, these relationships create nodes of silence, whilst in others, they add together to generate high-density vibrations that encourage us to listen with our whole body.
By playing with standing waves and exploring amplitude change depending on location, I positioned standing waves to create a place where there is complete silence; symbolising the eye of the hurricane. Consequently, the frequencies had various amplitude patterns in space, making a sensitive change in sounds and beatings, occurring in a dramatic shift with the tiniest movement. To emphasise the energy within a hurricane, and because of practical limitations, the frequencies used were all under 90Hz. The low vibrations create a dramatic change in physical sensation of sound when the listener walks between the silence and the sound.
Sól Ey 