Mobile Phone Concert: Dialtones @ Ars Electronica 2001

Dialtones (A Telesymphony) (2001-2002: Golan Levin, Gregory Shakar, Scott Gibbons, Yasmin Sohrawardy, Joris Gruber, Erich Semlak, Gunther Schmidl, and Joerg Lehner) is a large-scale concert performance whose sounds are wholly produced through the carefully choreographed ringing of the audience's own mobile phones. Before the concert, participants register their mobile phone numbers at a series of web terminals; in exchange, new ringtone melodies are automatically transmitted to their phones, and their seating assignment tickets are generated. During the concert, the audience's phones are dialed up by live performers, using custom software which permits as many as 60 phones to ring simultaneously. Because the exact location and tone of each participant's mobile phone is known in advance, the Dialtones concert is able to present a diverse range of unprecedented sonic phenomena and musically interesting structures, such as waves of polyphony which cascade across the audience. Dialtones was presented at the Ars Electronica Festival in September 2001, and at the Swiss National Exposition in May and June of 2002.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• dialtones
• teleymphony
• mobile_phone
• concert
• performance
• golan_levin
• scott_gibbons
• gregory_shakar
• new_media

[lyricessence]

And, the delight of not having to be embarrassed that your phone rang during a concert!

[crashnspin]

if they were capable of this sort of thing back in '01, imagine what they'd be able to do today.. :0

[ataaah]

Fine idea, but it sounds just awful.

Needs bass. needs baritone. needs alto. needs drums. needs voices. needs a whole lot less of that shrill trill willfull lack of thrill. This would set every dog in a 30 mile radius howling away with its tail on fire. And me at the forefront of the exodus with fingers jammed firmly in ears.

[mrfish1961]

love the idea . . .

[cetmar2009]

chingues a toda su putiiisiiimaa madre.. qee viideeoo taaan mas culeroo.....

conciertoo de tonos de un nokiaa.. ess unaa pendejadaa...............! idiotaaaaas

[phokia2]

interesting

[gilranadan]

please no more, I'll talk, please let me talk, anything but more of that mech noise

[m0nkeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee]

yes, it's high time a sacred space were found for the sounds of these phones...

[heyitsleo]

genius idea BUT what an annoying song. At least compose a more pleasing song or even a song we all know would've been better.