For the audio transformation aspect of Signals and Stillness, I wanted to achieve an effect similar to one that I’ve worked with in Adobe Audition, where an FFT filter can be used to isolate particular frequencies, resulting in an ethereal musical-chord-like output created from any audio source (e.g., the “C Major Triad” preset of Audition’s FFT filter). I found a great starting point for this effect in the “Forbidden Planet” sketch of the main Max examples collection.

Specific values can be set in the multislider object to isolate frequencies using a “select” message – for example, sending the message “select 100 0.9” filters the output to frequencies between 4280-4320, close to a very high C# note. To have greater control over specific frequency choices, I’ve increased the value of the pfft sample size from 1024 to 8192.

Here’s an example of the resulting sound using the video clips as an audio source and creating random triads based on notes in a C major scale:

In the final piece, this filtered audio is routed into delay and reverb effects that change in their intensity based on the number of stationary observers and the length of viewers’ stillness. 

For my current EDP course, I’m focusing on an idea that I’ve been planning to work on for awhile (current working title: Signals and Stillness). Inspired by being in public spaces where I’m subjected to (usually multiple) television displays that I have no control over, the large display featured in the work will assail the viewer with various clips of commercial media – news reports, advertisements, sports coverage, daytime talk shows, etc. Unlike a normal TV, this one senses when someone is standing/sitting in front of it, and begins to respond to (and reward) the viewer’s lack of motion. The longer a viewer remains in stillness, the more the display changes, altering audio of the clips into a serene music-like soundtrack, and morphing the video scenes into abstract washes of colors and shapes. The goal is to encourage a meditative state of presence in the viewer – the “noise” of the rapidly changing content that normally demands their attention is transformed into an object of contemplation, reflection and curiosity.

A preliminary layout sketch of the work:

The basic programming workflow for the piece is illustrated in the diagram below: