Nicholas Bernier – Frequencies (Line)

0

Nicolas Bernier

Nicholas Bernier is a Canadian sound artist who has explored the areas of musique concrète, live electronics, post-rock, noise improve and video art in sound performances, installations, dance, theatre, moving images and interdisciplinary contexts. Frequencies is a piece is concerned with tone generation. It combines both ancient tonal generators, tuning forks, with the contemporary technology of computer controlled solenoids to activate the tuning forks. The resultant devices made by Bernier have been manipulated to create sound elements which combined with synthetic sine waves comprises the instrumentation of this work. The interplay between the ancient/modern, synthetic/natural are dichotomies that could be thought about a bit in conjunction with this work. Also much could be made of notions of pure tone and essentialism within tone generation.

Other approaches might consider the novel experimental music machine building as a form of artistic merit, the stark minimal soundscape and wide sonic dynamics of the piece or even consider it as an exemplar of sound art. All of these approaches bear fruit. It is a short but densely packed 33.43 minutes of tonal generation and digital processing that go straight to the synapses. You could consider it as consider it as a form of cerebral enhancement: Tonträger für synapsenmassage. But that may be going too far. Be prepared for a dramatic sonic experience and listen with a sound system capable of a wide dynamic range to achieve best results. Whichever way you conceive of the work it remains a highly interesting piece of digital culture.

The mastering is by Taylor Dupree. The frequencies (a) sound and light performance was awarded the 2013 Ars Electronica Golden Nica for Digital Music & Sound Art.

Innerversitysound

Share.

About Author

Leave A Reply