Iterating physics, codes and sound


by Runxin Zheng
Iteration3

PROVISIONAL DEFINITION

engaging in a process, where the process is the output 
1 the volume of the source music decides the gravity
2 Each spring is assigned a different sound 
3 change the opacity of the background colour to show traces of movements
4 apply panning
5 separate three springs and apply different styles
6 add a constant background base and use piano chords
7 Used 'for loop' to create all objects
8 randomise colours *
9 attaching pendulums
11 Use particles to show the background drumbeats
12 Particles lose gravity when drumbeats stop *
13 Add text into the particle systems, responding to drumbeats *
14 Add another sentence into the particle systems and the font size responds to the drumbeats *
15 Use notes as the sound of springs

Complete collection of iteration 3
Remember to turn on the sound 

*Some individuals are sensitive to flashing or flickering lights or geometric shapes and patterns, may have an undetected epileptic condition and may experience epileptic seizures when watching these animations. The physics synthesizer is a digital instrument, created and iterated on p5.js, using physics equations and a series of physical phenomena to combine, modify, and generate sounds. 

The project is still ongoing, and the purpose of this synthesizer might change.


In iteration3, I reversed the input, music, and output, the physical simulations, attempting to ‘hack’ the primary use of p5.js and create an instrument or a synthesizer using this language. How would natural phenomena manifest through sounds or notes? Are these simulations an accurate translation of the real world? Is there anything that is lost in translation? At the end of these experimentations, I do think something has changed, perhaps lost, during these translations, which are likely to be rhetoric elements mentioned by Spivak (1993). After all, real-world physics involves more than just mere numerical values and equations. However, since the logic is present in these simulations, the translation still creates new, valid experiences that could reshape our perspective of the real world.


Reference

Spivak, G. (1993) ‘The Politics of Translation’. Available at: https://pierre-legrand.com/16spivak.pdf (1 Feb, 2023).





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MA Graphic Communication @ Central Saint Martins