About

Audio Sample

Telephone Etude #1: Shakespeare Cuisinart is an interactive musical work accessible by telephone. Callers are asked to say their favorite quotation from a Shakespeare play or poem. Moments later, they hear a short piece of music generated from slicing, dicing, and layering their voice. Callers may also later visit the Shakespeare Cuisinart web site to download their musical creations to disk or e-mail them to friends.

Computer software generates a 60-90 second piece of music based entirely on the caller’s voice, using a hierarchy of random decisions. The caller’s voice is not subjected to any digital signal processing; it is only spliced and layered in a manner similar to classic musique concrete of the 1950s.

I was attracted to using the telephone because it is the most ubiquitous, easiest-to-use device for sending and receiving audio. There is no software to install, no minimum RAM or CPU requirements to meet, no broadband Internet connection to get — just a handset and a toll-free number to dial. Though telephone audio quality is low-fi, I was happy to work with it in order to create an interactive piece with such a low barrier to entry.

People are also naturally comfortable using the phone. Callers who might be intimidated to participate in an interactive installation in a gallery were excited to creatively participate via this more private medium. They pushed the limits of Shakespeare Cuisinart in ways I never could have imagined. And they made some pretty interesting music along the way.

Telephone Etude #1: Shakespeare Cuisinart was originally created for Heavy Music For Light People.