Last semester, I created my first instrument in exploring the relation between patterns and sound; the Eidophone. The Eidophone explores through cymatics, which is the subset of modal vibrational phenomena, in which patterns and variable figures can be excited with the human voice, or any other instrument whose sound can be directed directly into the instrument's tube (clarinet, oboe, etc.)
In this semester, as my infatuation with the possibilities of creating translations between ornaments, patterns and sound is unchanging, I shift my exploration to music boxes, particularly fascinated by its operation and mechanical parts; a music comb with tuned teeth, a cylinder that acts as a program or score, a soundboard and the mechanism in which a spring motor winds up the cylinder.
The two critical aspects that concern me in this music box are: first, the information that the cylinder will carry is information of a pattern, an ornamental pattern from the decorative patterns language of the Levant, extracted possibly from a textile piece, traditional metal or wood work, or any other object that carries this ornamental language. Second, the tuning of the teeth of the comb will not be based on the well tempered system that music boxes usually abide to, but will mimic the tuning of instruments in the region of the Levant, which include quartertones and other 'microtones'.
I believe the order present in ornamental patterns of each culture holds valuable information about our perception and understanding of the world, and perhaps in the back and forth possible translation between visual and sonic patterns could we decipher a more profound understanding of this coded knowledge.
Presentations
Introductory Presentation [1]
Diagram [2]
Contextualization [3]