Aggregate voices
Aggregate Voices is an audio installation series consisting of several stereo Arduino units looping pre-generated audio compositions. The audio pieces themselves are constructed from voice samples of myself saying different phrases. Each piece is a single or pair of phrases that I have broken down into syllable and letter counts to dictate musical aspects like meter or sequential steps. Pieces are anywhere between fifteen minutes to an hour in order to mask looping points and keep the sense that the works are morphing/changing when installed with other pieces in the series. Below is documentation of an excerpt from a recent installation of Aggregate Voices - Serial: 18097216T791.
Each piece in Aggregate Voices is titled with a serial code that references different aspects of its generative program. The first two digits refer to the total syllable count within the phrases. This often is used for determining either the total meter or the number of active steps in a bar. The next four digits refer to the total steps in a completed loop of the piece. While there are many smaller or even several larger loops in a finished file, the completed loop, in this case, refers to the point where all voices synchronize. After that, the remaining two digits before the letter indicate the number of voices or layered phrases present in a piece. The letter is the most common syllable and the final three digits are the root frequency used for eroding or reducing the voices to a tone.
Really, the naming scheme isn't much more than trivia for others and it is just a way of organizing files for myself. Though, I will note that the serial code format does appeal to the technology-driven visual aspect of the installation itself.
Currently, these are the finished pieces in the Aggregate Voices series:
Serial: 15050407D791
This unit was the first step towards Aggregate Voices, though it was not yet apart of the series. Originally only installed as a proof-of-concept in the 66th Annual ECU Faculty Exhibition, it helped me solidify the form for the generative audio compositions. In this case, syllables were active steps and letters dictated total steps in a Euclidian-style sequence where the equidistant patterns layered up with polymeters between all the voices resulted in this droning and shifting repetition that sort of lingered in the gallery. Never quite the draw of attention, but always there. When installed with the other pieces in the series, the intention is to install Serial: 15050407D791 along the floor with tactile transducers rather than the speakers we see in the documentation above. This would allow for the piece to fit in underneath the more present pieces like Serial: 18097216T791.
Serial: 18097216T791
Serial: 18288002S659
Serial: 11171602I528
Apologies! This page is currently under construction, more documentation soon!