Sonic Data-Garden
Sonic Data-Garden is an eight channel interactive sound ecosystem in the St. Olaf College Regents Greenhouse, split between two botanical areas. Each of the two main rooms in the greenhouse has their own soundscape generated by a combination of samples and procedural audio running from two Raspberry Pi computers out to eight custom designed loudspeakers. Audio parameters in the code are altered by sensory input in the environment itself through light and soil moisture sensors in the space. Each soundscape reflects the energy of the different spaces and facilitates an interactive relationship with the people inside. I hope this installation will allow for further reflection on sonic spaces and their influence in our everyday lives.
Rainforest Room
Marsh Room
Biosonification
The two different soundscapes in the piece are generated through a combination of sampled audio and synthesis based in the Pure Data programming language. In the first room a soil moisture sensor sends data from a plant in the room about the water content in its soil, which alters parameters in the sound fed back into the space. In the second room a sensor sends information on the amount of ambient light back into the computer and alters the soundscape as well.
By combining audio recordings with procedural synthesis based on sensor data in these spaces, hybrid soundscapes are created which sonify data in the space as well as allow for the coexistence of human made and natural sounds.
Environmental Speaker Design
Each of the eight speakers in the piece has been designed specifically for the greenhouse space. Four channels in the first room are made from painted PVC tubing parts assembled with different speaker cones. For the two larger speakers crossovers were built into the terminals located inside the main column. These speakers are designed to blend into the space and reflect a more natural and biological design for loudspeakers.
In the second room four speakers are fashioned out of ceramic clay pots, with two speakers functioning as hanging sonic pots and two being placed into the ground environment. Theses speakers reflect an environmental design focused on a connection with the earth and soil while also blending in with other pots in the space.
This installation reflects my work in expanding the design of loudspeakers to facilitate a natural interaction between biological and human-made objects in hybrid environments such as a greenhouse.