EXTRALUDE: Taking a Walk Through Information-as-Sound
As discussed throughout this exposition, a key research output of the project has been the sound produced by the project.
While many conceptual and philosophical corollaries have been discussed, as well as the structure of the tools and data used, a good semblance of the spatial audio, as heard, alludes us.
Therefore, as an 'extralude' a longer sound example is provided here. While this binaural example is still at best a sketch of what the spatial audio experience is, it offers a longer opportunity for focused listening to what this system produces by way of organised sound and organised time.
This performance is approximately 11' long. It is hoped that it will be listened to as a performance, or even better, a virtual tour, a guided walk through the data set, using the sounds designed for this purpose, but treated with artistic freedom. As we float through the molecular data, various molecules are turned on and off to create new relationships of movement, density, rhythm, and harmony within the sonic texture.
The performance score that was used for this realisation and two of the public performances enacted with this system is included here. Approximate times for the changes are given as are lines pertaining to the dataset and molecular triggers that turn oxides within the molecule on and off.
This score itself is an artefact, and one deliberately left in sketch form and incomplete, perhaps even only partially readable. The connections desired in this part of the exposition are not exact or explicit connections between sound and data, but instead subjective connections between sound and listeners. The listener-reader is encouraged to proceed with openness and also commitment allowing impressions to form from the artefactual and fragmentary material presented, as might occur on a walk.
