The Hyperdrone #1 and #2

Two sound pieces for seismic data, Supercollider, later also adapted for Loudspeaker Orchestra, prepared piano and Theremin.

Originality
The soundscape “Hyperdrone” is a soundscape commissioned by Office of Experiments. The use of the media is seen in the project as a positive model of action and carries a political significance due to the nature of the data utilised for the composition. The data was supplied by the Atomic Weapons Establishment Blacknest, Reading UK, which is part of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO), which monitors the ground for nuclear scale explosions. This data is now contributing to other systems, such as early warning earthquake and tsunami alerts data. This network was created for the purposes of maintaining peace through an International Treaty which bans nuclear weapons development and testing and is an example of what can be achieved through cooperation, even if the positive contributions it now makes to seismic monitoring of natural events are a side effect of its true intention.

Rigor
The sonification aggregates data from a range of seismic stations. Data gathering was a significant part of the research process, before it could be programmed into a soundscape. The audio is arranged to be played back at frequencies that generate resonance in the immediate environment, making objects and bodies vibrate and hum.

Significance
The project extends research undertaken into the global techno-scientific sites, from labs to observatories that support advances in human development; experimentation, scientific instruments, supercomputing advances etc. The author of the soundscape was invited to exhibit it in various galleries and academic conferences nationally and internationally such as The Wysing Arts Centre (Cambridge, 2015), The exhibition 9 events curated by Neal White and Tine O’Connell at the Dyson Gallery, Royal College of Arts, (London 2016), The exhibition Sites of Excavation and Construction curated by Neal White at the gallery Objectif Exhibitions (Antwerp 2016). The Hyperdone was performed for the Theremin Centenary Concert - Loudspeaker Orchestra Concert and executed by Lydia Kavina at the St Alfege Church, 3 Greenwich Church Street, London.