a collaged rendering of the parabolic speaker/light

A screenshot from the 3D soundscape composition software I have been developing. Here you see one of the sound sources selected and its multitrack sound editor opened.

For a while now, I have been developing a software that allows me to edit sound in time and space. The software, something between a multi-track sound editor and a game engine, allows me to compose with a virtually limitless amount of sound sources and speaker locations. Then later, the same software allows me to experience this soundscape either in a digital environment, or with the help of custom designed hardware, through as many speakers as I choose in a physical environment.

Being(s), the installation mocked up in the following images, is composed of a grid of lights/parabolic speakers (image right) that map sound through a large open space. I have tracked peoples movements around New York City through GPS, hear monitors, and microphones. The sounds of a persons body (heart, breathing, and footsteps) are mixed with the recordings of the person’s environment (the streets of NYC) and then moved through the installation space in relation to their GPS tracking.

The resulting experience is one of loneliness and intimacy. As you stand in this empty space, faint murmurs can be heard in the distance; lights slowly traverse the horizon. As the lights approach, you hear the sounds of footsteps and an urban soundscape. The sound seems to grow in volume and weight as it nears. As the sound reaches a crescendo, you notice a persons heartbeat and breathing. The sound of their body combined with that of their footsteps allows you to conjure an image of this person as they walk past you. Slowly the person fades away into the distance leaving you with a silence more dense due to the their absence. At times two or three people may converge upon you at the same time creating an almost claustrophobic reaction.