Audiovisual composition

Singing Sand was inspired by the sonic potential of abstract 3D computer graphics. The central element of the composition is a physics-based visual material whose movement is sonified in real-time. The piece presents an attempt to use 3D geometric motion as a central element of musical composition – from a “solo instrument” to subtle modulations of precomposed audio material. It explores what various particle fluctuations, tensions or shape-morphings sound like, what internal rhythms they create and how that affects our perception of the visuals in return. The piece is an attempt to compose from within an audiovisual paradigm in which all major compositional decisions come as a consequence of cross-fertilisation between both modalities. Grains of sand resembling visual particles were sonified by mapping their individual velocities to various parameters of individual grains inside a custom-made granular synthesiser. At the same time, the velocities determine the colours of the particles, which together creates a spectrum of colours and sounds.