Spiral Staircase Reimagined as a Voice-Transforming Instrument

The audience was invited to experiment with various spatialised sound effects applied to their vocalisations that were synchronised with the movement of the balls falling along 35m long track. The interaction starts with insertion of the ball into the microphone. Then recording starts and after the recorded sound stops the ball is released to slide down along the track.

Image credit: Marcin Zaborowski

Thanks to custom built gates with infrared sensors and radio modules the sound transformations applied to the recording were synchronised with the current speed and position of the ball. The light trail following the ball has also been created thanks to the sensors and microcontrollers measuring the speed of the ball passing the gates.

Image credit: Marcin Zaborowski

Since they were using five speakers – one per floor, they were also able to achieve spatialisation of the sound creating the illusion of the sound “falling” with the ball. As a finishing touch they also used simple projection mapping synchronised with the motion of the ball to make the whole thing more visible for the people standing in the lobby of the Philharmonic.

Image credit: Marcin Zaborowski

In the end panGenerator created a playful and engaging audience-driven audiovisual performance that exemplifies their vision for integrating new media art practice with architecture and breathing the life into static form thanks to digital technology.

Video Credits

DOP – Hola Hola Film
VIDEO EDITING & POSTPRODUCTION – Jakub Koźniewski
SOUND EDITING – Krzysztof Cybulski
VIDEO SOUNDTRACK – Maciek Dobrowolski
VOICE – Jona Ardyn

SPECIAL THANKS

Paulina Stok-Stocka
Barbara Kinga Majewska
Tomasz Midzio
Maciej Kalczyński