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"Red Grains"Video on DVD with surround sound, duration 5 mins 50 secs (2003/4).
Program noteRed Grains is in principle the record of an installation. The intent was to make an artwork which would give something of the experience of a waterfall or other natural phenomenon, without imitating an actual natural system. The visuals came from a construction built from two laser pointers, some mirrors and a Lego Robotics kit. The movement of the Lego motors was influenced by two light dependent resistors (LDRs) mounted on the edge of the mirrors, so there was a feedback system. The sound is the noise made by the Lego construction, processed by granular synthesis. The parameters for the granulation were obtained from five more LDRs on the mirrors, and two potentiometers driven by the Lego motors. In principle the granulation could have been performed in real time, though in fact it was not. The sensor-to-MIDI conversion was handled by a MIDI controller made by
Angelo Fraietta. The granular synthesis was carried out by a program written
by the composer. Some imagesTwo images from the video, and a picture of the construction which generated the artwork. Click on the small images below for enlarged versions.
Further informationMore explanation, and more pictures (PDF, 593 Kbyte) Note: The soundtrack for Red Grains was originally stereo, but was reworked in 2004 for surround (5.1) sound.
Performances, etc
© Gordon Monro 2003-7. Last
modified: 22 January, 2007. |