Kristi Allik
March 13, 2010
Concert at 8:00 pm
New Music Concert Series
Kristi Allik
Everyone welcome
Reception to follow
Machine Symphony uses aural and visual snippets taken from 19th century engines and machinery. Although the sound and image track are mostly concurrent they are not intended to be synchronous in a traditional sense. The piece uses dimensional sound and peripheral vision to explore the spaces which surround and separate the visual and the aural. To best view the work the observer should look at the projected image in an unfocused, relaxed manner, trying to observe the whole screen in its entirety without trying to resolve any detail in the image. Machine Symphony is a celebration of machines, in their magnificent, even pompous, aural and visual diversity. All sounds are derived from recordings made in the Kingston Steam Museum and at the grounds of the Inverary Vintage Gas, Steam and Auto Show in Ontario, Canada. All of the recordings used in this work are from fully functional and carefully restored steam engines, single cylinder combustion engines, and steam-driven farm equipment.
The sounds were processed to create drones and repeated rhythmic patterns. These elements in turn, are arranged similar to an “orchestra” of different instruments, resulting in a “symphony” of sounds. The sounds range from “tonal” sonorities to percussive elements.
The video (in the video version) was created from source material recorded of the original Osbourn-Killey and Ingliss steam-powered, fly- wheel engines steam engines during their last year of operation the Steam Museum in Kingston. Multiple tracks of 4fps video are digitally processed and superimposed in order to create a mystical and quasi- dreamlike environment.
VIEWING DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT NOTES:
Audio: Kristi Allik
Video: Robert Mulder
