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the soundhats were used by
the dancers in one part of the performance piece
worldswithin. they consist of a
circuit board, a light sensor and
a really silly looking headpiece made
from a a paper cone with a speaker and
flashlight inside, which is
mounted on bicycle helmet.
the circuit board contains two
oscillators, one with a fixed frequency and another with a frequency
that
is controlled by the amount of light that falls on the light sensor. when
just the right
amount of light strikes the sensor, the two oscillators
are in tune with one another. the sensors
are extremely sensitive though,
so it is difficult to tune the oscillators exactly. when they are
out of
tune they make strange and lovely beating sounds.
if a number of
people are in a dark space wearing the soundhats, they can turn
on their flashlights
and attempt to tune one another from a distance with
their flashlight beams. this is a difficult task
which requires
concentrated listening and great sensitivity to the minute movements of
your partner.
the soundhats are rather loud and buzzy
sounding, so when a number of them are in a room together they
make quite
a nice racket. each soundhat is tuned to a different base frequency so
that it is possible
to track an individual hat in the dark. a very nice
effect is created when the only light in a
space comes from the
soundhats: the flashlights illuminate the faces of their
wearers.
they can also be used to cast patterns onto the walls of the space.
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douglas irving repetto
