WAVES become MATTER: improvisation for flute and ruben's tube

interdisciplinary artist alyce santoro demonstrates a simple apparatus that makes visible the effect of sonic vibration on compressed gas. ruben's tubes are often used in physics classrooms to demonstrate the oscillating pressure that sound waves exert on matter. please see also the wikipedia entry on ruben's tube and other sites that offer plans to construct them. also recommended: any site that explains CYMATICS or the TONOSCOPE.

here i play a flute with an electric pick-up installed in the head-joint along with a pitch shifter. lowering the pitch of the flute one octave brings the sound into a range that produces the most dramatic effect with a ruben's tube of this length and diameter. i am playing in the masonic hall in marfa, texas - a large, cathedral-like room with a lot of natural echo.

this performance was one aspect of "the synergetic omni-solution", a weekend of multi-media happenings hosted by ballroom marfa as part the 2011 texas biennial. please see my website at alycesantoro.com for more info.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• flute
• ruben's tube
• physics
• alyce santoro
• conceptual art
• sound waves
• sound experiment
• sound art