The Beyond Perception exhibition at Melbourne's Scienceworks incorporates STEM education to inspire young minds in the world of physics. The exhibition spaces titled "Ripples in Spacetime", "Waves at Work", "Energetic Vibrations", and "Turbulent Encounters" are intended to remain in place for the 10yrs. I was engaged to compose long form soundscape content for the entire exhibition. Carefully crafted to support the messaging and aesthetic of the exhibition while providing a deeply immersive and cohesive environment throughout. The sonic content was composed of the very concepts that are the substance of the exhibition. From data sonification to real-time augmentation and generative input, the implementation is a living breathing creation that builds a world of wonder and discovery.
(Photo Credit: Rob Zugaro)
The spatial audio system is a 72.7 channel Yamaha loudspeaker array powered by Dante amplifiers and reproduced using a bespoke audio server program developed by MindBuffer. The content is a combination of pre-programmed compositions and realtime sources, each using generative algorithms to breath life and variability into the experience.
At the entrance to the experience, the transition into the world beyond perception is introduced through the use of augmented sound. Specific elements of the existing ambient soundscape of the museum are captured in real time and effected to resonate at specific frequencies and reverberate in a wash across the entrance. This harmonic representation of real world sound is amplitude modulated at the frequency of ocean waves that entice the museum visitor into the world of discovery beyond.
(Photo Credit: Ben Healley)
All visitors enter the exhibition via ‘The Cacophony’ which is an abstract amalgamation of the concepts that are contained within the rest of the exhibition. Museum goers are invited to lie on cushions and look up at reflected projections of imagery of the scientific concepts that lie within the other areas of the exhibition. Contrary to the title, the soundscape of this area encourages people to dwell and let the visual and sonic information wash over them. Detuned spherics and radio waves have resonances applied and connect the listener to a world beyond perception. Effected elements of the rest of the exhibition wash in, out and across the space, hinting at the experience that lies beyond.
A series of Shepard tones pan throughout the exhibition rising and falling at different rates and pitches, occasionally pausing on a single tone. All the while the varying pitches add and cancel with each other throughout the space, demonstrating the concept of wave interference. A continuous drone also establishes the tonic of the exhibition and utilises wavetable synthesis to manipulate waveforms that evolve over long periods of immersion. Further higher pitched transients echo through the space, again scrolling through various waveforms, illustrating the discrete make up of complex sounds.
(Photo Credit: Ben Healley)
Sonifications of the Big Bang, the discovery of gravitational waves and radio waves recorded in Saturn’s rings make up some of the content in ‘Ripples in Spacetime’. Museum goers are invited to collide two black holes together on a rear-projected lycra screen. Heat maps have been mapped to different wavetable synth parameters for each screen using Open Sound Control (OSC) for a visceral interactive experience.
(Photo Credit: Ben Healley)
Radio waves recorded in Earth’s ionosphere are combined with the delicate sounds of animals foraging in the undergrowth to accompany the micro vs macro imagery in ‘Waves at Work’. A wash of sonic colour provides a bed track under which the colourful displays can be viewed.
An interactive display showcases fluid dynamics within the ‘Turbulent Encounters’ with varying sonic representations changing in real time using OSC. A bed track of turbulence of varying colour washes across the multiple screens and adjusts with each change in state.
(Photo Credit: Rob Zugaro)
The soundscape of ‘Energetic Vibrations’ can only be felt as a tactile production via actuators in the cushions. A polyrhythm of rhythmic elements from adjacent areas is combined into a tactile composition that resonates with the rest of the exhibition.
The projection mapping turret separates components of a ‘remix’ of other soundscapes into bass, rhythm and colour. The tonal sequence follows a pattern based on the Fibonacci sequence. The accompanying elements utilise concepts from the rest of the exhibition. The combined soundscape drives the projection mapping visuals using FFT analysis of frequency content and can be manipulated at three stations within the turret.
The whole experience is a combination of anticipation and discovery coupled with the beauty and wonder of a fascinating world beyond perception. Hats off to the team that dreamed and delivered it. The whole project is a big step forward, pioneering the future of exhibition design.
And here is a 360 video of (most of) the exhibition: