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Dendrosonification

by Simon Lysander Overstall

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about

"Dendrosonification" is a creative sonification of the rings of an old growth cedar that grew in Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC. (Dendrochronology is the science of determining tree age from growth rings, and dendroclimatology is the science of determining past climates from tree rings.)

This work is not a strict sonification or accurate representation of the data, but rather an evocative interpretation. It does not reveal anything about the life of the tree, but rather provides a space for contemplation of the ancient tree and the old growth forest it was once part of.

This album is four examples of typical output from a generative software system.

The system uses data from the tree rings of the ancient cedar to play six one stringed bowed instruments, synthesized using IRCAM's Modalys physical modelling software. The instruments roughly correspond to the strings of a six-string bass, each bowed by a different performer.

The system retrieves a slice from a high resolution image of a cross section of the tree (see the album image). The grey scale values in the slice are used as data to determine pitch, volume, bow pressure, and likelihood of playing at any given moment. After a slice has been performed, the tree rings image is rotated and another slice retrieved from a different angle.

The tracks are named according to the fundamental frequency determined for that slice of the tree rings.

The project was initially created as part of the Wild Empathy research and art project. It is part of an installation currently showing at Science World, Vancouver, BC.

More information here: www.wildempathy.org/sound-of-tree-rings/

credits

released June 6, 2022

software programmed by Simon Lysander Overstall using Max8 from Cycling '74 and Modalys from IRCAM

license

all rights reserved

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about

slo ~|• image

slo ~|• Vancouver, British Columbia

Simon Lysander Overstall is a media artist and composer from Vancouver, Canada. He develops works with generative, interaction, or performance elements. He is particularly interested in computational creativity in music, biologically and ecologically inspired art and music systems, and art and performance in immersive environments. ... more

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