INSTALLATIONs /





TREE/ studies_sonification of objects in nature


audio-visual installation /  
by: Aliona Yurtsevich  
sound compositions, transparency print, 6 channel speaker system, video





audio / TREE study - I/
          

audio / TREE study - II / "Swinging" - video




Sonification, simply put, is the representation of data through sound.

Sonification refers to the process of translating numerical data into sound.
This project is an experiment. The concept was born out of curiosity to hear the actual sound of the Tree(s),
inspired by the idea to be able to illustrate or translate the object through sound using an image  as a map.
The goal of this work, by sonifying the chosen Tree, is to investigate its actual sound property, to be able to
hear its own music – the music that exists in nature, and which the human ear is not able to perceive.



TREE / study - I

electronic composition, 4.5 min / 2007

An image of a bare tree was digitized and computer analyzed to generate the audio pieces. Approaching this
experiment from many angles - taking into account multidimensionality of the Tree - different parameters were used: vertical (pitch) and horizontal (time) to create sound composition. The result is a humming, sustaining sound field, functioning as a double pedal tone in high and low registers. 
The sound of the Tree branches springing through the acoustics of the room  using a 6 channel audio system.


TREE / study - II                  audio/  
“Swinging”  6 channel audio-visual  composition for piano, 8.5 min / 2007

This composition is a musical reflection of the actual movement of the tree branches in space and time.
The “swinging” motion is depicted in the piano melodies and motives, supported by the video, and  complemented by the spatial sound distribution of 6 channel speaker system.
While observing a natural synchronisity between the movement of the branches and the  “swinging” sounds of the piano, after some time, the illusion arises that the branches are actually producing or triggering the sound.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Special thanks to:
Barbara Woof, Diane Donk, Martijn van Gessel, Sander van Unen, Klaas-Jan Govaart, Eyes on Media (www.eyesonmedia.nl)