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A A B BR RI IE EF F H HI IS ST TO OR RY Y O OF F O OP PT TI IC CA AL L S SY YN NT TH HE ES SI IS S I IN NT TR RO OD DU UC CT TI IO ON N The technology of synthesizing sound from light is a curious combination of research from the realms of mathematics, physics, electronics and communications theory which found realization in the industries of motion picture films, music, surveillance technology and finally digital communications. As such, it's history is an interesting cross section of 20th century history, reaching from the euphoria of the late 19th Century and early 20th Century inventors (who often struggled between "scientific" and "supernatural" explainations of their work) through the paradigm-smashing experiments of the Soviet avant-garde in the 1920's and 1930's to the cynical clash of ideologies of the Post-war years and finally to the dawn of the digital era in the 1970's. This history has its fair share of eccentric and fascinating characters, such as L Le ev v T Th he er re em mi in n--the inventor famous for the musical instrument that bears his name, and who was kidnapped to build espionage devices for the USSR, A Ar rs se en ny y A Av vr ra aa am mo ov v--the artist who once employed an entire city, as well as the guns of the local army regiment, to realize one of his compositions, and D Da ap ph hn ne e O Or ra am m--the first woman to create and run a sound studio, as well as the first woman to "design and build an entirely new sound recording medium" (Jo Hutton in O r g a n i z e d S o u n d ). There is quite a bit of work left to do, particularly in recognizing and translating the legacies of the Russian avant-garde artists such as B Bo or ri is s Y Ya an nk ko ov vs sk ky y, E Ev vg ge en ny y S Sc ch ho ol lp po o, N Ni ik ko ol la ai i V Vo oi in no ov v and the forementioned A Av vr ra aa am mo ov v, whose works are largely unknown outside the former Soviet Union. A forthcoming article on "Russian Graphical Sound" for the Computer Music Journal by Andrei Smirnov could be one of the biggest English-language breakthroughs in this area. Quite clearly, the connection with filmmaking is very close. Optical sound technology was developed first solely for recording soundtracks for early "speakies", and every one of the Russian innovators used their graphical sound techniques to provide music scores for the kino. But the connection with the "Visual Music" movement in cinema is also very close, with perhaps the works of N No or rm ma an n M Mc cL La ar re en n providing the strongest bridge. But the "direct cinema" techniques of many filmmakers from the 1920's and 1930's on through the 1960's and 1970's show more than a casual relationship with the techniques of direct optical sound synthesis. The works of O Os sk ka ar r F Fi is sc ch hi in ng ge er r, L Le en n L Ly ye e, S St ta an n B Br ra ak kh ha ag ge e, J Jo oh hn n W Wh hi it tn ne ey y, H Hy y H Hi ir rs sc ch h, H Ha ar rr ry y S Sm mi it th h, J Jo or rd da an n B Be el ls so on n, L La ar rr ry y C Cu ub ba a and many others all reflect an ongoing lineage of this "visual music" tradition. (The "Kinetica" screening programs, available from the i o t a C e n t e r of Los Angeles, provide the most comprehensive overview of this fascinating film history, and the V i s u a l M u s i c website gives an excellent synopsis and timeline as well.) My hope is that this small survey sparks more interest in all of these inventors, composers and artists and their incredible works, as well as provide a historical context for the TONEWHEELS performance.
T TI IM ME EL LI IN NE E 1 18 82 22 2 : French mathematician and physicist J Jo os se ep ph h F Fo ou ur ri ie er r (1768 - 1830) theorized that any complex sound can be described by a series of simpler sinusoidal components, giving rise to modern methods of analyzing and depicting sound waves. (Source: W i k i p e d i a , L i v i o Zucca)
Fourier Harmonics
1 18 86 60 0' 's s : German physicist H He er rm ma an nn n L Lu ud dw wi ig g F Fe er rd di in na an nd d v vo on n H He el lm mh ho ol lt tz z (1821-1894) used physical objects ("Helmholtz resonators") to demonstrate that air cavities have sonic resonance. This further helped scientists (and later on, electronic musicians) to describe
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Helmholtz Resonators
1 18 86 62 2 : R Ru ud do ol lp ph h K Ko oe en ni ig g (1832-1901) developed the manometric flame apparatus, which was used into the first decade of the twentieth century to examine the wave-shapes of sounds. The heart of the apparatus is the manometric flame capsule. Sound enters the capsule via a funnel and a length of rubber hose, and impinges on a rubber membrane placed between the two halves of the capsule. Illuminating gas enters at the bottom of the shaft and burns in a small flame. The oscillations of the membrane modulate the gas supply, and the height of the gas flame varies accordingly. The oscillating gas flame is viewed in the rotating mirror, which supplies the necessary time base to make the waveshape visible. (Sources: physics.kenyon.edu, Wikipedia, Max Planck Institute)
Koenig's Manometer and the waveshape images made using the device
1 19 90 07 7 : French-born, London-based E Eu ug ge en ne e L La au us st te e (1857-1935) - who had worked at Edison's lab between 1886 and 1892 - was awarded the first patent for sound-on-film technology, involving the transformation of sound into light waves that are photographically recorded direct onto celluloid. (Sources: W i k i p e d i a ) 1 19 91 16 6 : The Optophonic Piano was created by the Russian Futurist painter V Vl la ad di im mi ir r B Ba ar ra an no of ff f R Ro os ss si in n (1888-1944). The Optophonic Piano generated sounds and projected revolving patterns onto a wall or ceiling by directing a bright light through a series revolving painted glass disks (painted by Rossin), filters, mirrors and lenses. The keyboard controlled the combination of the various filters and disks. The variations in opacity of the painted disk and filters were picked up by a photo-electric cell controlling the pitch of a single oscillator. The instrument produced a continuous varying tone which--accompanied by the rotating kaleidascopic projections--was used by Vladimir Rossin at exhibitions and public events. (Sources: K e y b o a r d M u s e u m , H i s t o r i e d u s y n t h e )
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Thomas Wilfred with his Clavilux Junior and several hand-painted disks
Although this is one of many examples from the "Visual Music" tradition, rather than a sound-producing instrument itself, Although this is one of many examples from the "Visual Music" tradition, rather than a sound-producing instrument itself, the relationship of the spinning disks to graphical sound techniques is significant. (Sources: A r t i s t s O n L i n e , " T h e D r e a m o f C o l o r M u s i c , a n d t h e M a c h i n e s T h a t M a d e I t P o s s i b l e " by William Moritz, Visual Music) 1 19 93 30 0 : The Variophone was developed by E Ev vg ge en ny y S Sc ch ho ol lp po o in Leningrad in 1930 at Lenfilm Studio Productions, together with composer Georgy Rimsky-Korsakov. It was the most long living project: the Scholpo laboratory existed until 1951. The first practical result was achived in 1931. The technological basis of his invention was the method of photo-optic sound recording used in cinematography, which made it possible to obtain a visible image of a sound wave, as well as to realize the opposite goal - synthesizing a sound from an artificially drawn sound wave. "The method of Scholpo gives easier access to varieties of timbres. He doesn't shoot still images of sounds on animation stand, instead using paper disks with a circular images of combs with appropriate shapes of cogs, rotating synchronously with a moving filmstrip. Exclusive benefits of Variophon are in flexible pitch control and vibrato" (Solev 1935). (Sources: K e y b o a r d M u s e u m , W i k i p e d i a , T h e r e m i n C e n t e r , forthcoming article "Graphical Sound in Russia" by Andrei Smirnov for the Computer Music Journal)
Scholpo working with the Variophone, several examples of the sound disks and a section of printed film
1 19 93 30 0 : In Munich, R Ru ud do ol lf f P Pf fe en nn ni in ng ge er r made his first films using his tnende Handschrift (Sounding Handwriting) method of artificial sound synthesis. This method involved
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photographing strips of paper with sound-curves drawn on them to represent each note of the soundtrack graphically. (Sources: Thomas Y. Levin, " T o n e s f r o m o u t o f N o w h e r e " : Rudolph Pfenninger and the Archaeology of Synthetic Sound) 1 19 93 31 1 : The Saraga-Generator was developed by W Wo ol lj ja a S Sa ar ra ag ga a at the Heinrich-Hertz Institut Fr Schwingungsforschung in Berlin, Germany. The Saraga Generator was an unusual photoelectrically controlled vacuum tube instrument. The instrument consisted of a photoelectric cell mounted on the white painted inside surface of a box with a small slit cut on one face. A low voltage neon lamp was placed at some distance from the box and the performers movements interrupting the light beam caused variations in pitch. Envelope and timbre were affected by manipulating a hand held switch device, the overall volume being controlled by a foot pedal. The instrument had a tonal range of four octaves. (Sources: Keyboard Museum) 1 19 93 31 1 : The "Radio Organ of a Trillion Tones" was created and developed by A A. . L Le es st ti i and F F. . S Sa am mm mi is s in the USA. The Radio Organ used a similar technique as the Celluphone and variants - rotating photo-electric disks interrupting a light beam at different frequencies produced varied pitches an timbres from a vacuum tube oscillator; the principle was improved in the "Polytone". (Sources: K e y b o a r d M u s e u m ) 1 19 93 31 1 : British physicist E E. .A A. . H Hu um mp ph hr ri ie es s created the first artificial speech synthesis when he is called upon to "correct" the optical soundtrack master to one of the first synchronized-sound films. The problem was that the villian in the film happened to share the same name as that of an aristocratic family, who threatened a lawsuit unless it was removed. Since the lead actress could not be recalled to the studio to re-record the spoken parts, Humphries was forced to paint each instance of the character's new name into the soundtrack by hand! (Sources: Thomas Y. Levin, " T o n e s f r o m o u t o f N o w h e r e " : R u d o l p h Pfenninger and the Archaeology of Synthetic Sound) 1 19 93 31 1 : N Ni ik ko ol la ai i V Vo oi in no ov v invented the "Nivotone" in the Soviet Union. This instrument optically read strips of paper hand-cut by Voinov as sound information. (Sources: Theremin Center, Theremin Center)
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instrument based on the "painted sound" techniques of Soviet film soundtrack composers. (Sources: T h e r e m i n C e n t e r )
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Painted soundtrack
1 19 94 40 0' 's s-1 19 96 60 0' 's s : Canadian filmmaker N No or rm ma an n M Mc cL La ar re en n (1914-1987), sometimes working with New Zealand kinetic sculptor and filmmaker L Le en n L Ly ye e, created films whose sounds were created by drawing or printing various patterns (e.g. shapes such as triangles, circles, etc.) along the optical soundtrack area of the film. (Sources: K e y b o a r d M u s e u m , Wikipedia, Wikipedia, Wikipedia)
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The Oramics machine as it appears today, in a London storage space awaiting refurbishment by Goldsmiths University (photos: Derek Holzer)
1 19 97 71 1 : The Optigan was released by the O Op pt ti ig ga an n C Co or rp po or ra at ti io on n, a subsidiary of toy manufacturer Mattel. The unusual feature of the Optigan was its method of sound synthesis; the Optigan optically read graphic representations of waveforms from a series of 12" celluloid LP sized discs, hence the name Optigan - 'Optical-Organ'. The Optigan read the discs by passing a light beam through the transparent discs, the beam was interrupted or reduced by the shape of the printed waveform and picked up by a photoelectric cell causing a variable voltage which was in turn amplified and passed to the speakers.
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Dudon's photosonic synthesizer (from artwork of his "Lumieres Audibles" LP, 1996 Mondes Harmoniques)
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Diagram of Dudon's system, where "L" is the light source, "D" the transparent disk with sound patterns, "F" the optical filter and "C" the photoelectric receiver
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Block diagram of the UPIC system, with the drawing tablet in the center
Xenakis imagined his UPIC system would open up the possibilties of composition to those with no formal musical training, allowing them to create music in a direct, intuitive way
A AC CK KN NO OW WL LE ED DG GE EM ME EN NT TS S
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I am deeply indebted to the research of A n d r e i S m i r n o v of the T h e r e m i n C e n t e r , Moscow. Without Smirnov's careful work in preserving and archiving m a n y i m p o r t a n t d o c u m e n t s from the 1920's to the 1960's, most of the information on the pioneering Soviet electronic music instruments, film sound and writings (as well as several surviving instruments) would be lost forever. Smirnov offers several extremely interesting l e c t u r e s on the " N o n l i n e a r H i s t o r y " of Soviet electronic music instruments, Lev Theremin and the interrelationship of espionage techniques and art. I can highly recommend these lectures as well as his w o r k s h o p s to academies, universities, symposiums or festivals. An introduction to Smirnov's work on graphical sound can be found h e r e . I would also like to thank the owners of the K e y b o a r d M u s e u m website for their exhaustive collection and documentation of vintage electronic music instruments, especially those invented b e f o r e t h e 1 9 6 0 ' s . I consider their page, along with Andrei Smirnov's, to be one of the best resources for starting an investigation into the history of optical synthesis technology. UPDATE: as of 11 Sept 2009 I am sad to report that the Keyboard Museum website appears to be offline. This is quite unfortunate, however since there is no place to which I can redirect any of the broken links here, they must remain as they are... This history was compiled for the T O N E W H E E L S project, as part of a residency at the T e s l a media arts laboratory, in Berlin, Germany over the months of Oct-Dec 2007, and at S T E I M during the last two weeks of February 2008. I am grateful for their support of this project as well. Further research has been added over time between 2007-2010, and this "paper" has formed the basis for a lecture on the history of optical sound and graphical composition which I have given at numerous universities, festivals and arts centers since then. Derek Holzer Berlin, February 2010
C CO ON NT TA AC CT T d de er re ek k _ __ __ _A AT T T TH HE E D DO OM MA AI IN N_ __ __ _ u um ma at ti ic c. .n nl l
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