Sonic Panoramas by Analog Tara / Tara Rodgers
Sonic Panoramas is a series of panoramic portraits of cities, with red, green, and blue color data converted to sound. It explores ways of representing place and landscape using digital information rather than more conventionally representational field recordings. Color information captures the light, weather, architecture, and vibrancy of a location at particular moments in time. Data in digital images become source material for music. Sites were selected for their reputation as characteristic vistas of these cities, like postcard images. Sound palettes and data mapping decisions were inspired by the atmosphere in the photographs. In most cases, the spatial location of a sound in the stereo field is related to the location of the associated pixel in the panorama.
The Vancouver series was originally composed and presented in 4-channel surround sound. The New York City series utilizes 1-minute field recordings from the time and place of the panoramic photos, which are time-stretched and processed by a resonant filter whose properties are shaped by the color information in the photos. To view the associated images, visit: http://safety-valve.org/blog/music-and-sound/sound-art/sonic-panoramas/
Tracklist
Credits
These Sonic Panoramas and others were created for the Damn Your Eyes: the infinite dimension of sound exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto (2008), and with support of artist residencies at the Western Front, Vancouver (2007) and Diapason Gallery, Brooklyn (2009).
Recommended for headphones or speakers that reproduce a wide range of frequencies.
License
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A multi-instrumentalist composer, producer, and historian of sound, Tara started her career as a self-taught jazz pianist and has since made a wide range of techno and ambient music, and generative sound compositions in SuperCollider. From NPR Music: "Assertive work, bold in the precision and subtlety it takes to mix such signals with thrill and grace and restraint.”