OSZILOT
One property of a simple pendulum, is that the rhythm of its oscillation depends solely on the length of the thread it is attached to, regardless of the weight or size of the pendulum.
OSZILOT is a mixture of sound installation and musical performance, consisting of oscillating everyday objects. The movements of these objects are translated into sound, generating shifting musical patterns. It is an ongoing experiment, in which basic pendulum physics meet digital sound synthesis.
Contact
mail@oszilot.com
About
OSZILOT is a mixture of sound installation and musical performance, consisting of oscillating everyday objects. The movement of these objects are translated into sound by small gyroscope sensors, which wirelessly send movement-data to a computer which transforms it into sound. It is an ongoing experiment which combines basic pendulum physics with the cosmos of digital sound synthesis.
Physics
Pendulum physics were discovered by Galileo Galilei around 1600. The longer the string is, to which an object is attached to, the longer it takes for it to swing back and forth. What makes pendulums interesting from a musical perspective is that the rhythm of the oscillation always stays the same, independent of how fast or slow they are swinging. This results in a consistent beat, similar to a metronome or a clock. If different pendulums of varying string lengths are combined, a polyrhythmic pattern is created.
Music
Making music with pendulums opens up a whole new world for us as composers and requires a different approach to composing. Each pendulum is like a musician with its own characteristics. Our choice of sounds depends on the appearance and the physics of a pendulum object. For example, we will likely choose a clear, metallic sound for our spaghetti pan and something more wooden-sounding and organic for our hanging tree trunk. But it’s also tantalizing to play with expectations, which might be delivered or not. Being able to assign different sounds to the pendulums opens a spectrum of musical possibilities. Mostly the sounds of the pendulums change after every musical piece. Genre-wise the music can be described as Drone, Ambient, New Age, Soundscape, Minimal Music or Generative Music.
Chaos Pendulum
The double pendulum, also called chaos pendulum is the soloist in our orchestra.
Visit us
We have our studio in Seebach in the outskirts of Zurich where we are exploring new ideas, working on new musical pieces and enjoying jams on our pendulums. Come visit us!
