In an age when musicians and artists are abstracting and deconstructing sound in every conceivable way, few people seem to be thinking beyond the stationary listening point of current sound technology. We are comfortable pulling apart everything about the sounds we listen to, but few are questioning the way we listen. Is it acceptable to sit statically in space and be spoon-fed dollops of sound through what is effectively a one-dimensional medium?
altzero turns listening into an exploratory process where a deeper understanding of a piece of music is made available to anyone prepared to listen.
As a recording format, it is conceptually similar to normal recordings, except the recording is in three dimensions, and you can move freely within it. An altzero musical piece is a navigable composition; a piece of music that can be entered and explored.
The core of altzero is a tool, freely available to download on the web. With it, sound designers can create three-dimensional navigable sonic environments that begin to deliver on the phrase 'immersive music'. The results can be used in several ways, ranging from live events and installations to a straightforward online presence.
© squidsoup (left), © Nathan Cox (middle, right)
Background
The altzero project has been running for the last four years, so many of the concepts and ideas in altzero5 have been developed and refined in previous versions of the project.
However altzero5 is a big step forward; whereas earlier versions of the project focused on creating a single audiovisual piece, the core of altzero5 is a downloadable tool that allows anybody with a computer to create their own altzero compositions using their own ideas and sounds.
© squidsoup
altzero5 has three components:
- altzeroLIVE - event and installation
- altzeroCOMPOSE - a downloadable tool for creating altzero compositions
- altzero.com - explanatory website containing content and software
The altzero project has received recognition online from sites as varied as sonified.org and macromedia.com, and in the form of awards - for example an International EMMA (Online Art, 2000) and a BAFTA nomination (Interactive Art, 2002).
The various altzero incarnations have also been shown at numerous festivals, events and galleries around the world, including:
- SONAR (Barcelona, 2001)
- SIGGRAPH (LA, 2001)
- ISEA (Nagoya Japan, 2002)
- ICA (London 2000, 2002 and solo show 2001)
- Web3D Symposium Art Gallery (France 2002)
- LAB3D (Cornerhouse, Manchester, May/June 2003)
There is potential for some interesting applications of altzero as a learning tool, for example in exploring concepts of space, maths and geometry, relations between coordinates and space, what happens to sound over distance, as well as the obvious musical and art components of the altzeroCOMPOSE software.
© squidsoup
altzeroLIVE - event and installation
The altzero5 event is in three sections and takes place over one day, though the resultant piece is designed to work as a longer term installation in its own right.
- Up to a dozen physical sound objects, ranging from Heath Robinson sonic sculptures to instruments and toys. These are placed around the venue where they can be seen and heard. Some of these objects are used regularly but others are found or created specifically for each event.
- The sounds from the objects are processed live and added to the evolving altzero soundscape. This can be followed at the event or online. By the end of the day, the piece is complete.
- The projection of the piece itself. Starting with a blank screen, this will end up as a finished navigable altzero5 composition - a record of the event and development of the piece, and a musical piece in its own right.
After the event, the physical sound objects and the installation remain. The objects complement the virtual installation, highlighting the links between virtual and real, abstracted electronica and physical sounds.
The results of the event in Manchester can be seen at www.altzero.com
( >PLAY>Manchester
LIVE).
© squidsoup
altzeroCOMPOSE
altzeroCOMPOSE is a tool, freely available to download on the web. With it, sound designers can create three-dimensional navigable sonic environments using their own sounds. As the result is (almost) inevitably an interactive audiovisual experience, the composer needs and gets control over the
visual and interactive aspects of their piece, as well as the sonic component.
A key feature of altzero since its inception has been online presence - altzeroCOMPOSE has the ability to easily export a piece for uploading onto the web. These can then be experienced by anyone with a reasonably fast computer (Mac or PC) and a browser.
The software is as used by Icarus to generate the sequence of soundscapes for Cornerhouse in May 2003.
altzero.com
In addition to explaining the ideas behind altzero, announcing related events and containing the altzeroCOMPOSE software for download, altzero.com also contains a range of altzero tracks, created by Icarus and others. As pieces become available they are showcased on altzero.com.
Earlier incarnations of the project are also available.
altzero5 was developed by squidsoup, and was commissioned by the Cornerhouse Gallery in Manchester UK, with the support of the New Media Art Projects fund, Arts Council England.
squidsoup is a loose federation of artists musicians and interactive designers based in the UK. Their work focuses on using interactivity, sound and space (virtual and real) in unexpected yet intuitive ways - on the web, as installations, in games and in software applications.
www.squidsoup.org
www.squidsoup.com
www.altzero.com
March 2004
Please note: this article is NOT covered by Futurelab's Open Access licence (see open access policy for further details).
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