Chaos Bells

Lia Mice

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract

Chaos Bells is a very large (2 metres wide and tall) instrument, shown in Figure 1, is designed with both artistic and analytical goals in mind: it is a probe into the exploration of instrument size on performance, while also being a vehicle for Lia Mice’s performance practice. Chaos Bells features 20 gesturally performed pendulums. Chaos Bells' unique sound design in which bell sounds can drone and become chaotic is how it gained its name. Striking the instrument results in a staccato (short) tone, and tilting the pendulum/s results in a drone (sustained tone). The timbral quality of the drone corresponds to the pendulum tilt: somewhere between 45 and 90 degrees on each pendulum produces an unstable system where the drone grows over time and eventually becomes chaotic and distorted as it is clipped by the digital system, finally disintegrating into broadband noise with no clear fundamental tone. Despite its large size, Chaos Bells is also performable with micro-gestures that have the capability to change the overall sonic output of the instrument, a feature influenced through research I conducted in which I interviewed performers of large acoustic instruments. to understand their favourite characteristics of their instruments. Chaos Bells is created from PVC piping and features 20 embedded analog accelerometers connected to 4 Bela minis that run a Karplus-Strong synthesis algorithm on Pure Data. Chaos Bells is unique in both physical aesthetics and sound design. The instrument has a growing list of artists adopting it to create original performances. As a technology probe exploring the impact of instrument design choices on music performance, this instrument has led to findings elucidating the impact of instrument size and tonal layout on music composition and performance.

Citation

Lia Mice. 2022. Chaos Bells. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.21428/92fbeb44.cffb690f [PDF]

BibTeX Entry

@inproceedings{nime2022_music_12,
 abstract = {Chaos Bells is a very large (2 metres wide and tall) instrument, shown in Figure 1, is designed with both artistic and analytical goals in mind: it is a probe into the exploration of instrument size on performance, while also being a vehicle for Lia Mice’s performance practice. Chaos Bells features 20 gesturally performed pendulums. Chaos Bells' unique sound design in which bell sounds can drone and become chaotic is how it gained its name. Striking the instrument results in a staccato (short) tone, and tilting the pendulum/s results in a drone (sustained tone). The timbral quality of the drone corresponds to the pendulum tilt: somewhere between 45 and 90 degrees on each pendulum produces an unstable system where the drone grows over time and eventually becomes chaotic and distorted as it is clipped by the digital system, finally disintegrating into broadband noise with no clear fundamental tone. Despite its large size, Chaos Bells is also performable with micro-gestures that have the capability to change the overall sonic output of the instrument, a feature influenced through research I conducted in which I interviewed performers of large acoustic instruments. to understand their favourite characteristics of their instruments. Chaos Bells is created from PVC piping and features 20 embedded analog accelerometers connected to 4 Bela minis that run a Karplus-Strong synthesis algorithm on Pure Data. Chaos Bells is unique in both physical aesthetics and sound design. The instrument has a growing list of artists adopting it to create original performances. As a technology probe exploring the impact of instrument design choices on music performance, this instrument has led to findings elucidating the impact of instrument size and tonal layout on music composition and performance.},
 address = {Auckland, New Zealand},
 articleno = {12},
 author = {Lia Mice},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.21428/92fbeb44.cffb690f},
 editor = {Raul Masu},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {jun},
 title = {Chaos Bells},
 track = {Music},
 url = {https://doi.org/10.21428/92fbeb44.cffb690f},
 year = {2022}
}