Interrellation

sound-transformation and remixing in real-time

Hannes Raffaseder

Martin Parker

pp. 229-237

in: Randy Adams, Steve Gibson, Stefan Müller Arisona (eds), Transdisciplinary digital art. sound, vision and the new screen, Berlin, Springer, 2008

Abstract

Until Thomas A. Edison invented the phonograph in 1877, sound had only been accessible in the moment of its creation.  If a sound was to survive, it needed to be described in words or made again by the moving bodies that created it the first time.  Today, we rarely think of sound as a passing, one-off moment because we can record, store and manipulate it so easily.  However, the impact recorded sound has made on our approach to listening is deep; we now think of sound as solid and repeatable rather than transient and ephemeral. This paper remarks on these changes from the point of view of practicing artists who approach sound as a temporary and occasional phenomenon. The authors propose an approach to sound-transformation and re-mixing live-sound in real-time that plays on the "now or never" nature of sound. We describe the artistic concept, the software especially programmed for these purposes and some examples of our projects and performances.