DUCT // 2020
Resonant Metal Spring and Interactive Electronics
Duration // 8'30" (app.)
Written as one of the pieces in my broader inter- project, DUCT is a work written for resonant metal spring and interactive electronics, and realized in third-order ambisonics. In the inter- project, I’m exploring the complex acoustics of resonant metals, and the ways in which they are emblematic of systems and relationships which can be characterized as somehow being “liminal” or falling within an “in-between” state.
In the case of DUCT, the central spring serves as both the primary sound source, and also as a mediator / conduit for sound. The spring is brought to tension between two points, and then amplified with contact microphones. These inputs are then brought into Max/MSP where they are manipulated using real-time granular synthesis and cross-synthesis. Additionally, at various points in the piece sound is also purposefully fed back into the spring by two speakers in order to create a feedback loop which can be manipulated by both touch and voice. Ultimately, this all yields a work that is as much about transduction, physical touch, and connection as it is about “in-between” states.