Characteristic Sound

Characteristic Sound is an audio visualizer. It listens to a space and uses the frequency and volume of the ambient noise to draw a record of the space. That record can then be cut out of acrylic using a laser cutter, creating a physical representation of the characteristic sounds of the space.

This project was developed using Processing. It makes use of the Minim audio library for audio processing. The program, as well as other work completed during the process, can be accessed in my Github repository. The program takes in audio as input, renders a visualization, and then saves that visualization to an SVG file for printing / laser cutting.

If this piece were to be displayed in a gallery, one possible installation could feature the visualization projected onto one wall, actively documenting the characteristic sounds and ambiance of the gallery space.  The records of other moments in spacetime would be displayed opposite on podiums labeled with a short note (for example, “43 amiral mouchez, making tea”) such that the viewers could pick up and touch the objects.

During the development of this project, I was thinking about the following:

BIG QUESTIONS:
What does it mean to document a space?
What role does sound play in the identity of a space?
What does sound look like?
What are physical objects that document sound? Digital objects?

WHO:
Characteristic Sound is for the documentarian, the anthropologist, the historian, the field scientist.

WHAT:
Characteristic Sound is an audio visualizer. It listens to a space and uses the ambient noise to draw a record of the space that can be perceived in both the digital and physical worlds.

WHEN + WHERE:
Characterstic Sound documents a moment in spacetime.

WHY:
Characteristic Sound was created to explore the concepts of space identity and identity documentation.  Thinking during the project also focused heavily on those objects and concepts that document time—digital objects such as audio samples, MIDI files, and waveforms, and physical objects such as CDs, vinyl records, tapes, and sheet music—and their visual forms.

My process throughout this project has been documented on this blog, and is additionally reflected in my git commits.