Hören! Haltung!

Die Kunstform der Klangkunst ist nur wenige Jahrzehnte alt, ihre Bezeichnung als solche in der Musikwissenschaft ist naturgemäß noch wesentlich jünger. Auf der Suche nach ihrem Gegenstand lässt sich an ihre Herkunftsgattungen anknüpfen – die Architektur und andere visuelle, aber auch darstellende Künste, und nicht zuletzt an die Musik. In diesem Artikel wird der These nachgegangen, inwieweit das zentrale Moment der installativen Klangkunst die Inszenierung des Hörens selbst sein könnte. Dabei wird die Verlagerung vom Klang auf das Hören in der Musikgeschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts skizziert und Anhaltspunkte für eine zunehmende Thematisierung des Hörenden in Klanginstallationen gesucht

“Once again text & parenthesis – sound synthesis with Foo”

Foo is a sound synthesis tool based on the Scheme language, a clean and powerful Lisp dialect. Foo is used for high-quality non-realtime sound synthesis and-processing. By scripting Foo like a shell it is also a neat tool for implementing common tasks like soundfile conversion, resampling, multichannel extraction etc. Note: According to the talk at the Linux Audio Conference, this text will mainly cover the Foo kernel layer. This is because the main author of this text, Martin Rumori, is mostly involved with porting and developing the Foo kernel. Quotation from [5]: Whereas the Foo kernel layer implements the generic sound synthesis and processing modules as well as a patch description and execution language, the Foo control layer offers a symbolic interface to the kernel and implements musically salient control abstractions. Find out more about the Foo control layer in [4] and [5] and the Foo control layer’s source code at [1].

A Sonic Time Projection Chamger: Sonified Particle Detection at CERN

Presented at the 16th International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD2010) on June 9-15, 2010 in Washington, DC.In a short-term research project at CERN, an auditory display of elementary particle tracks has been developed. Data stems from simulations of the Time Projection Chamber (TPC) in ALICE experiment. Particle detection there is based on pattern recognition algorithms, but is still today double checked with visualization tools. The sonification works with cluster data of the TPC and was designed in analogy to the physics behind the measurement device. Thus it is possible to listen directly to the otherwise silent detector

Garnets within geode-like serpentinite veins: Implications for element transport, hydrogen production and life-supporting environment formation

Geochemical micro-environments within serpentinizing systems can abiotically synthesize hydrocarbons and provide the ingredients required to support life. Observations of organic matter in microgeode-like hydrogarnets found in Mid-Atlantic Ridge serpentinites suggest these garnets possibly represent unique nests for the colonization of microbial ecosystems within the oceanic lithosphere. However, little is known about the mineralogical and geochemical processes that allow such unique environments to form. Here we present work on outcrop-scale vein networks from an ultramafic massif in Norway that contain massive amounts of spherulitic garnets (andradite), which help to constrain such processes. Vein andradite spherulites are associated with polyhedral serpentine, brucite, Ni-Fe alloy (awaruite), and magnetite indicative of low temperature (<200°C) alteration under low fO2 and low aSiO2,aq geochemical conditions. Together with the outcrop- and micro-scale analysis geochemical reaction path modeling shows that there was limited mass transport and fluid flow over a large scale. Once opened the veins remained isolated (closed system), forming non-equilibrium microenvironments that allowed, upon a threshold supersaturation, the rapid crystallization (seconds to weeks) of spherulitic andradite. The presence of polyhedral serpentine spheres indicates that veins were initially filled with a gel-like protoserpentine phase. In addition, massive Fe oxidation associated with andradite formation could have generated as much as 600mmol H2,aq per 100cm3 vein. Although no carboneous matter was detected, the vein networks fulfill the reported geochemical criteria required to generate abiogenic hydrocarbons and support microbial communities. Thus, systems similar to those investigated here are of prime interest when searching for life-supporting environments within the deep subsurface. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd