| Notice (en) : |
Motor Rhythms uses six tiny DC servo motors as its primary sound source. My partner, Brian Reinbolt, developed a rhythmic sequence for the sextet for an installation he was working on and generously consented to let me record them. I deployed the six motors in two semicircles for maximum interplay across the channels and miked them very closely to further enhance the stereo field. Although most of the time they are processed beyond recognition, the motors are briefly revealed in their raw state as they travel dramatically to the forefront two-fifths through the work. The linked skeletal ticks which fly overhead punctuate the spatialization, elongating via resonant equalization, then convolution with the harmonics of the final feedback section, eventually blurring into sustained resonances. Motor Rhythms occasionally teeters on the brink of disaster, sounding as if it’s about to fragment or rip apart from internal pressure. All horizontal spatializiation is entirely the result of the original placement of the microphones. Depth and vertical spatialization are also carefully articulated and a fundamental concern of the piece—expanding, shrinking, stretching, and warping the architecture of the acoustic space. |