AFTERSOUND: Frequency, Attack, Return
AFTERSOUND: Frequency, Attack, Return Curated by Melissa Ragona + Margaret Cox Aug. 21 – Nov. 22, 2015 Featured Artists: Paul DeMarinis, Michael Johnsen, Victoria Keddie, Caroline Record, Marina Rosenfeld, Jesse Stiles, Sergei Tcherepnin. Pioneers of Sound + Archive: Maryanne Amacher, Cathy Berberian, John Cage, George Crumb, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Iannis Xenakis. Featured Visual Scores: Roger Beebe, Lin Culbertson, Luca Forcucci, Kraig Grady, Scott Kiernan, Jonna Kina, Zach Layton, Golan Levin, Eric Normand, Eric Raynaud, Dmitry Shubin, Matt Wellins and more in the gallery + online! MILLER GALLERY AT CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY bit.ly/aftersound Paul De Marinis (Stanford, California) Helmholtz (DUO), 2015 glass, motors, sound, flame So-called “Helmholtz” resonators are named after the great 19th century scientist, Hermann Helmholtz, who rediscovered the unique resonant properties of spherical enclosures that had been used to equalize the sound of ancient Roman theaters. Although originally made out of terracotta, Helmholtz resonators may be made of any rigid material, including plastic, glass, or ceramic, that can be formed into a sphere. For Helmholtz (DUO), the large glass spheres act as resonators for very low frequency sounds. By arranging a number of flames with resonators of different sizes, the flames will respond by vibrating when their pitch is present. Vibrations are visualized as the flames are reflected in the rotating mirrors. In addition to Helmholtz’s invention, Rodolph Koenig’s manometric flame apparatus (1862) plays a major role in this installation. Constructed as a device to visualize the relative prominence of various audio frequencies, or audio spectra, this construction worked by subjecting flame to illumination-gas that was directed by the vibrations of a rubber diaphragm.
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