Monochord

The installation »Monochord« makes it possible for the first time to visualize for the human eye the vibration when the string of a flageolet is struck. The string’s vibration is simulated through a set of equations that represent Newtonian mechanics, which are depicted by the computer as series of images. By clicking on the vertical blue lines on the screen, the viewer can experience the sound and vibration of the overtones on the horizontally depicted string.

When a string is struck, it generates a clearly recognizable sound. A harmonic spectrum always results from the string's vibration. Like every sound, however, the sound of the string is made up of multiple tones. The harmonic spectrum contains a series of clearly arranged partial tones, each of which corresponds to an integer multiple of the base frequency. For example, a string that has a fundamental tone of 400 Hz encompasses partial tones of 800, 1200, 1600, 2000, 2400, 2800 and 3200 Hz. One can play this sound on all string instruments through the playing technology that is designated as a flageolet: the finger, which is a blue vertical line in the case of »Monochord«, is only placed lightly on a certain position on the string without pushing down all the way on it. When the string is struck now, all of the deeper vibrations are suppressed and only the overtones are heard.

Sponsor: »Genesis«, physical Modeling Environment: ACROE, Grenoble

Production: ZKM | Karlsruhe
Idea: Peter Weibel
Computer animations: Ludger Brümmer
Interactive environment: Götz Dipper