DMY berlin 2013: melodic scribe by jihye kang + victor gonzalez

DMY berlin 2013: melodic scribe by jihye kang + victor gonzalez
first burn process -1650°f

how can one make music visually perceivable? this question is the subject matter of ‘melodic scribe‘. the installation by jihye kang and victor gonzalez translates sound impressions into colorful patterns through the use of a microcontroller. the resulting patterns are incorporated into the manufacturing process of porcelain. an installation demonstrating the project’s capabilities was presented at the central exhibition of DMY berlin design festival 2013 at airport berlin tempelhof.

melodic scribe
video © jihye kang and victor gonzalez

‘at first we worked on the question of how to convert musical perception in a new and progressive way. how could we include other sensory organs with the perception of music? we decided to try with the visual perception for two reasons, one because we felt demanded by its realization and because acoustic and optical perceptions are extremely distinct one to the other. thus we developed the idea to express music with colours. to do this, we chose to realize the impression of colours on the surface of a dining-plate. we decided to work with self manufactured porcelain plates. a new and at the same time useful product is created by this mélange of two distinct disciplines: a plate of porcelain painted by music. after coloring, the plates are burned in their usual process. a set of dishes is created, which not only is unique in its crafted art and form, but also in its decoration by musical pieces.’ –  jihye kang and victor gonzalez

plate casting with liquid porcelain

‘a musical piece is performed differently by different interpreters at different times, although the score may be the same. we developed the idea to bring musical incentives, converted into an optical play, on the surface of a plate, by a manual-drop-mechanism. each plate becomes unique in its colour pattern, as well as the musical performance, which accompanies its creation,’ says jihye kang and victor gonzalez.

installation view of ‘melodic scribe’ at DMY berlin’s central exhibition at the former tempelhof airport

the physical activation of the piano keys on a digital e-piano (musical instrument digital interface or midi-signal) starts the ‘melodic scribe’ machine.
the action of the piano keys (duration and treble) is converted into the device’s movements by two gear motors.

image © designboom

sound impressions are translated into colorful patterns through the use of a microcontroller.

a music and programming software process the midi-signal from the e-piano to the instructions for the micro controller
image © designboom

image © designboom

the microcontroller is connected to other electronic components. this is an interface between the computer and the machine. 

image © designboom

the bottle of glaze is manually adjusted to a 40° angle (there is a possible change in the velocity of the dripping caused by the room temperature).

‘melodic scribe’ by jihye kang and victor gonzalez
image © designboom

melodic scribe on paper

sketch