"Years" — Tree Turntable by Bartholomäus Traubeck
Bartholomäus Traubeck, sales a German designer, artist, and inventor, has crafted a modified record player that takes wood slices from trees and creates music out of scan data gathered from the inner rings:
The Traubeck tree turntable pairs a standard record turntable with a PlayStation Eye Camera attached to the (motorized, moving) arm. In lieux of a tangible needle locking into the grooves of a piece of vinyl, the slowly panning, stylus-mounted Eye Camera reader scans a disc of wood as it rotates below, then passes the data on to computer running an Ableton Live program, which Traubeck has specifically installed with algorhythims that match distinct keyboard notes to various scan density levels.
The resulting music is surprisingly lucid, conveying –quite literally– the internal rhythms of the life of an individual tree. Breathtaking and melancholy.
(Via Charles Peirce.)
March 1st, 2012 at 10:00 pm
I now know what sound a tree makes when it is not falling. This is, of course, brilliant and fascinating on many levels, not the least of which is the choice of piano to translate the patterns into music. I think that piano may work well with clusters – it is big, dramatic, and, indeed, full of life. Thanks for this nugget.
March 1st, 2012 at 10:25 pm
How does that even work? Trees aren’t spirals, they’re concentric rings.
March 2nd, 2012 at 4:10 am
The tonearm is on a motor so it is forced to move over the disc as it spins.
March 2nd, 2012 at 1:14 pm
This is fascinating.
March 4th, 2012 at 7:12 am
how fantastic and beautiful this is.
March 8th, 2012 at 3:16 am
Beautiful. Magical. Serene. Sensuous.