Sound exploration

“The goal was to translate the ideas, complexities, and phenomena of fluid dynamics into music.”

Music professor Lee Weisert’s latest work moves beyond pure sound. The sound installation “Granular Wall” is three-dimensional, visual and musical. A four-foot tall glass tank is filled with water and contains thousands of tiny floating beads illuminated by a soft, emerald light. A gentle wind-chime-like sound emanates from the tank. As the beads move, the sound grows louder and faster. As they settle, the din becomes ambient and calm.

The music comes from a generative process, rather than a composed score. In “Granular Wall,” that process is fluid dynamics. Although music composition using some scientific or mathematical law has been done before, “Granular Wall” makes the music as it happens, in real time.

Read the complete Carolina Story from Endeavors…

Weisert’s compositions and sound installations have received grant funding from New Music USA, the Illinois Arts Council, the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in the Arts and the UNC Performing Arts Special Activities Fund.

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