Matrix of Time

Sound art piece commissioned and presented at the Space Immersivity Colloquium 2020 in Mexico City in association with Ableton Inc., where I create a piece using the new spectral processing devices in Ableton Live for real-time performance. This piece exposes the beauty of audio processing in the frequency domain.

Vibrations make sound, vibrations occur in time and space. In this piece, we visualize time and space in a matrix simulating a painting or graphic representation of sound in real-time. We compose this digital painting through Fourier Transform processes and spectral audio effects that only occur when creating sound. The result is as ephemeral and unique as the sound that feeds it in each performance.

Spectral audio processes mimic the natural transformation of sound waves that occur in the human ear, which is why we can think of this piece as a human process. Thanks to computers, by reproducing this process, we can better understand this process and manipulate it as a human could not. In this environment, we can stop to visualize and freeze time to appreciate it better.

The creation of this piece starts from a natural sound, the human voice. Through spectral processes of digital audio, we manipulate time and space in which it occurs to create images in movement and constant evolution. The process turns into a way of controlling the sound to create space, shape, and movement, creating images full of dynamic textures.