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.