Sound & Movement

Sound & Movement is an ongoing interdisiplinary performance project in collaboration with dancer Jodi Ann Nicholson. We have completed two previous R&D projects. Turning Movement into Sound (2023) and Sound & Movement (2024). Both of which have been funded by the Arts Council of Wales. After the two R&Ds we are working on developing the pieces within the project into a full event.

The project brings together dancers, musicians and interactive technologies to create a performance environment in which movement influences sound in real time.

The project developed through a series of research and development sessions involving movement artists and computer musicians.

Early experiments focused on capturing movement using wearable inertial sensors. Data from the sensors was transmitted wirelessly and used as material for sound generation and processing.

This process became an opportunity to question how movement data might be interpreted musically, rather than simply mapped directly onto conventional musical parameters.

Blogposts

Here is a selection of blogposts showing how the work was developed in Capturing Movement in Sound.

• Capturing Movement In Sound Overview
• ESP32 & Accelerometers
• Gametrak Controller

The technological system uses wearable inertial measurement units to capture aspects of the performer's movement.

Sensor data is transmitted wirelessly to Max/MSP, where it can be analysed and transformed into musical parameters.

The system is deliberately designed to allow for indirect and unstable relationships between movement and sound. Small physical changes can accumulate over time and influence larger musical structures.