The Idea is to play with the nature elements to create a sound composition. In this case with the WIND. Using a KITE as an instrument provided with microphones (contact microphones attached) I will capture sound of the wind through the Kite movements in the sky. The sound captured in real time by the microphones on the Kites will be processed (also in real time) to create the piece in a LIVE! performance.

CONCEPT

A big part of nowadays electronic music production is made by manipulating, shaping and transforming sounds from simple sources, from everyday life objects to field recordings that are captured and brought to the studio for a electronic make up.

This approach can be related to the ideas of the Musique Concrète (Schaeffer, Pierre Henry, Parmegiani…) the field recordings of Luc Ferrari and in my case inspired also by the experimentation of Stockhausen in his work “Mikrophonie”. Yet many of these early experiments didn’t have the machinery and technology of today’s musicians. Today sound manipulation is a wider universe of possibilities.

The idea of these projects of sounds manipulation in real time in which The Kite/Wind project is included wanted to present not only the final result of the sound after the process made in the studio but to make it in real time with all the uncertainty that this process entails. Another key factor is to show the OBJECT (the source) … if in “musique concrète” the object disappears to give priority to the sound… in these project the object is present and is chosen due to his poetic, visual and aesthetic character and the “magic” of sound manipulation is performed live.

*KITE (Delta style) + microphones / Sound interface and Laptop - Basic Set Up.*

In the Kite/Wind project the input source is captured by using microphones (pick up contact mic or omni-directional condenser). The sound source will be a noisy signal in the case of the omni-directional and a bounce peaky with the contact one. To play and transform these incoming signals and sounds, clips, chirps is a matter of setting up a chain of effects predetermined by using the computer (with Max/Msp), Eurorack Modular Synthesizer and FX pedals.

Due to the microphone sensibility the signal can create various peaks which can be controlled by the gain creating diverse dynamics in the live presentation.

Knowing the characteristics of the sounds to be received the effects can be selected beforehand to have a long duration piece. For example, the piece can start with using a Reverb with very long decay to gave body and length to the sound and adding pitch variations to create movement, this will already create a rich drone like sound that can be variable during the piece.

In the case of using a single microphone in a kite, the piece will have just one input, so the chain can be: Reverb, Pitch swift, delay … etc. By using an envelope follower the peaks of the signal can be transformed into rhythmic attacks to create percussive sounds.

The more microphones the more sound sources and channels can be used like layers in the composition. The big variation on the project both sonically and visually (aesthetically) is the KITE ORCHESTRA using several Kites at the same time as sound sources each Kite becomes an instrument creating a large complex polyphonic composition.