cascada - sound installation // Ruben Dhers
Cascada is a sound installation for prepared guitars and fans that musically interprets the sound of a waterfall and seeks to approach the vital irregularities that characterise natural events. In so doing, Cascada resizes the sound potential of an acoustic instrument and creates a sound architecture that only exists in the music of the installation.
The installation works with the amplified natural sound of the guitars without any kind of audio processing. Computer controlled hanging and placed fans (dc motors) strum the strings with variable intensity. The space is filled with a mass of harmonics and chords that suggest no beginning or end. Cascada drives the listener to a contemplative state.
Cascada
© ZKM Institut für Musik und Akustik
Sketches
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Pure Data + Arduino
The Pd patch controls the speed of each fan separately. This works randomly, but partly limited in order to generate polyrhythmic patterns and dynamics. Slow changes happen approximately every five minutes.
Arduino
Pure Data Patch
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