Slices of Tree Trunk Played on a Record Player

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it really make a sound ?
An age old philosophical conundrum that perhaps we may never get to the bottom of, but if a tree falls in a forest and you slice it up into segments and play them on a record player ? Then yes, according to Bartholomäus Traubeck you have music.

Artist Bartholomäus Traubeck has successfully converted a record player to be able to interpret the growth rings from slices of tree trunks into a surreal eerie sounding piano music.

"A tree’s year rings are analysed for their strength, thickness and rate of growth. This data serves as basis for a generative process that outputs piano music. It is mapped to a scale which is again defined by the overall appearance of the wood (ranging from dark to light and from strong texture to light texture). The foundation for the music is certainly found in the defined ruleset of programming and hardware setup, but the data acquired from every tree interprets this ruleset very differently"

Using a turntable, Playstation Eye Camera, a stepper motor to control the arm, and a computer running Ambeton Live, Bartholomäus has allowed the forest to play us music which he has named  'Years'.  Listen to this video sample.




You can even buy the album, each track is a different tree, Spruce, Ash, Oak, Maple, Alder, Walnut, & Beech. Available from this link:   http://traubeck.bandcamp.com/album/years

Source:
http://traubeck.com/years/
http://traubeck.bandcamp.com/album/years


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