Rock music is an experimental sound project that synthesizes the sound of stones. All audio elements were made by interfacing with rocks and manipulating the results. Different sonification modalities characterize each track, while spatial audio techniques optimized for binaural listening create an immersive 3D soundscape where the inanimate environment comes to life.
1. rock music (intro)
The introduction takes listeners through the process of synthesizing raw recordings of rocks into noises that sound far from natural. Field recordings using a contact microphone capture environmental noise using inanimate objects in the city of Providence, RI as the transducer.
2. spectrotechno
This track uses images to generate sound. Spectrograms are pictures of sound, but sound can also be generated by ‘playing’ images in a digital audio workstation. Sonifying the texture images of 3D-scanned rocks creates complex, computer-generated audio that corresponds to the physical characteristics of the rock. These samples are then composed algorithmically in a live mix.
3. virtual reliquary
Rocks and minerals are mined from the earth in order to make the technologies we use every day. This ballad evokes the geological transformation and turmoil taking place inside computers. The sounds are synthesized from recordings of small rocks taken with a contact microphone and hydrophone in controlled environments. Movement and friction between rocks build an immersive 3D soundscape with high order ambisonics.
