5 and a half minute edited mix of moments from a Live performance of the piece in 2012. The original performance was around 40 minutes. The longer version requires the immersive and visual elements.
The Media Machine - A Real Time, Performative, Sound & Object Based Installation.
Paul J. Rogers
The Media Machine is a visual/sound installation which exploits the nostalgia of objects, live performance, ‘junk noises’ and objects, and perceptions of listening. An investigative process through the history of the recording/playback machines of the last century brought to life the sights and sounds of this real time, installation based, performative sound sculpture. The Media Machine is a collection of historical sound
objects ranging from Gramophones from early 20th Century to mp3 players and Digital Streams of contemporary listening habits. In between these extremes there are Turntables, Radiograms, Cassette Players, Reel To Reel and many more, all of which are played as one large integrated instrument. Some are played in their natural condition, some are sonically manipulated and the sounds transformed, and other objects are completely reinvented, technically restructured to produce new and innovative approaches to sound control interfaces.
The Machines and their sounds form a visual and auditory history where the past is flexible and fluid. Live performance on this integrated sound sculpture reveals the history of sound in a new light.
As well as exploiting the discarded objects as recycled junk within an ecological framework the work also exploits those ‘junk sounds’ which are the byproducts of the media based devices, both from the devices themselves and the media used to play and record music on the machines. Noises which form a part of the listening experience but
which are never the original intentions of the composer or recording artist. A few examples being;
a) The sound of a Turntable needle on a Vinyl Record at points where no ‘music’ exists.
b) The static pops and crackles bleeding into the music on Vinyl.
c) The background hiss from a Cassette Tape during moments of no music.
d) The static and interference from a Radio tuned between stations, but also bleeding
through into tuned stations.
e) The numerous clicks and thuds of the devices being switched on and off and other
function buttons.
f) The skips in data loss from digital formats (CD, DAT)
g) The slowing down/speeding up of sound through tape wear and cassette mechanisms
failing.
h) The tonal imperfections of diminished frequency response inherent in certain formats
(particularly Gramophone Players, Small Speaker Radios, MP3 players built in
speakers).
i) The general sonic errors of broken and discarded audio devices.
These extraneous ‘junk noises’ which are implanted on our auditory experiences are twisted into shape through real time performance as a composition is played out using the machines themselves to reproduce the sounds. Some of these sounds are adapted and sonically sculpted which are in turn triggered by some of the machines which have been technically adapted to permit audio control and manipulation. The devices use integrated chipboards, built in sensor technology, acoustic exploitation, contact mic techniques and sound effect manipulation to
facilitate new modes of performance. In places this is also facilitated with custom built software applications using the Max/MSP programming language.
Visually, the installation immerses the viewer in an arena of the nostalgic and the familiar, and, whilst we see and hear the cultural audio debris, we indexically link them to our personal histories, mechanisms and locations. The Media Machine recycles and upcycles both visually and aurally.
The performance of the Media Machine also becomes a form of theatrical performance art. The human presence within the piece is integral and serves to signify the relationships we all have with the sounds and sights presented. Many of the machines require very specific and varied human interaction, the performance of non-conventional instrumentation results in non-conventional modes of instrument performance, this has theatrical connotations.
In describing and sonically sculpting the flaws of the machine this installation traverses time. It compounds and confuses the history of the sound object and its auditory connotations in a century wide artwork, a playful response to Luigi Russolo’s invitation of 100 years ago for ‘musicians of talent to conduct a sustained observation of all noises’.
The Media Machine arises out of a ‘...taste and passion for noises.’ (Art Of Noises, 1913)
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