The Tell Tale Heart (T3H)

"I admit the deed! --tear up the planks! here, here! --It is the beating of his hideous heart!" - from The Tell-Tale Heart written by Edgar Allan Poe


"The Tell Tale Heart" is an interactive audio/visual installation about experience, territory, yourself and the outer world inside you.

A wooden, octagon shaped architecture forms the space of the installation. The visitor enters it through a small door. Inside, he finds himself confronted with an artificial, swarm-like creature which is moving, forming up and organizing itself. From around the walls, he hears sounds, voices, pads, panning around in space. The visitor's bio signals and his position alter the experience of the installation.

My task was to handle all the sound. That included recording voices, composing effects and writing a sound-dedicated patch in Max/MSP. That patch includes functions for granular synthesis, simple sampling, effect processing, and panoramic effects.

On the 15th of May 2009 T3H was presented at the Musikfakultät of the University of the Arts, Dechanatstr. 13-15 in Bremen, Germany. The overall reactions where highly positive. We are applying and looking for other places for the installation.


› T3H Website

› The official documentation

› Listen to an audio demo





t3h photo 1

t3h photo 2





Performance (Recorded by Ran Hu, Performance by Ahmad Saleh)


mainpatcher

Main patcher showing the general configuration of the sonification part.


granular patcher

Granular track control sub-patch in Max/MSP. The whole patch uses only self-made objects.


2009. Interactive Installation. Max/MSP, Processing, Arduino, Java, infusion systems bio-signal sensors, light barriers, temporary wooden architecture, black fabric as a roof cover, 4 speakers, video projector, convex mirror, computers for sound and video processing and a set-up udp/osc network, and lots of cables, water, sweets and paint. Work for Digital Media Master Project (Christoph Lischka), Digital Media Masters. University of the Arts Bremen.

© 2009 Andre Hoffmann