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2. Years - 'scratching'

by Bartholomäus Traubeck

3 weeks ago

1. YEARS

by Bartholomäus Traubeck

4 months ago

A record player that plays slices of wood.
Modified record player, wood, sleeves. 2011

Thanks to: Pro-ject Audio, Karla Spiluttini, Ivo Francx, Rohol

traubeck.com

Credits

3,076 Likes

Rita Reszegi
13 minutes ago
juan soriano
1 hour ago
davidope
1 hour ago
ktx
2 hours ago
Martijn Pillards
2 hours ago
JAN (JustAnotherNerd)
2 hours ago
A
3 hours ago
Guillermo Seis
3 hours ago
Caroline Pequeno
4 hours ago
fox_s
4 hours ago

Tags

Jose Barrera 1 month ago

This is amazing! It,s a beautifull idea...
Hyperplinks 3 weeks ago

so, so rad. it's been shared on hyperplinks.com
VoteMov 3 weeks ago

so am zing~~, also shared onto votemov, refre link:votemov.com/content/years added to votemov channel: vimeo.com/channels/votemov
M80.tv 1 week ago

so rad...im going to piggyback off the top comment for more exposure
Stefan Wagner 1 month ago

great idea. and the acoustic output is amazing.
Ugur Engin DENIZ 1 month ago

I'm awestruck, mighty clever of you!
LBRN 1 month ago

So smart. Really nice idea. The result is strikingly beautiful too. Congratulations.
Dominic Hailstone 1 month ago

Great stuff
Dave Vondle 1 month ago

Did you mix multiple outputs from your piece in post production? It looks like there are a few different "records". Was this because the tonearm has to be moved manually? Nice work!
Bartholomäus Traubeck 1 month ago

thanks. if you look closely you can see that in the later part of the video the record on the player changes. the first one is a more minimalistic fir tree, the second an ash tree with a rather complex texture. the sounds are excerpts of these records. one "track" is 4:30, that is the time it takes the motor to move the tonearm from the rim to the center of the record. sometimes the camera is still a bit glitchy so it is missing to recognise some rings. if you put other woods on it the change in sound is even more dramatic, for example with dark walnut wood. i will upload some mp3s to my site in the near future to document this
Luis Lopez 1 month ago

The video cutting to the different "records" and different positions of the tone arm really threw me. As a person I think your project has a great concept. As an engineer I find it hard to appreciate it without actually knowing what it's doing.. What is the camera looking for and how does that translate to a piano key?
Ivan Clow 1 month ago

This is what I found on his website about how it interprets the data:

A tree’s year rings are analysed for their strength, thickness and rate of growth. This data serves as basis for a generative process that outputs piano music. It is mapped to a scale which is again defined by the overall appearance of the wood (ranging from dark to light and from strong texture to light texture). The foundation for the music is certainly found in the defined ruleset of programming and hardware setup, but the data acquired from every tree interprets this ruleset very differently.
Mark 1 month ago

What an awesome concept!
ieatpants 1 month ago

to think that each note is a season passed... some smaller intervals were harder years for the tree... longer silences filled with growth... it's haunting really.
VLOXY 1 month ago

The TREE is a DJ!
WE AIN'T PLASTIC 1 month ago

love this! really! long time since a concept catched me like this one!
domakana 1 month ago

compelling and beautiful... what a great concept
KVK81 1 month ago

This is awesome. And reminds me this:

"We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time."
Jeremiah Haynes 1 month ago

Unashamed proselytizing in the comments, is that really necessary?
Landon Sullivan 1 month ago

As a Christian, I find this unnecessary.
Rebekah Maynard 1 month ago

I find this interesting and don't see how it could be viewed as insulting or wrong. None of the comments here can really be defined as totally "necessary," but I don't think there's anything wrong with sharing your thoughts on something, even if your thoughts refer to biblical scripture.
KVK81 1 month ago

Hi Jeremiah, and Landon.

Please apologize me if you guys think that the comment was as some kind of proselytism or unnecessary.

But I'll keep the comment without the reference from where I taken the words.

Is that good for you guys?

BTW, Please allow me to proselytize again.

It reminds me Ghosts III -22 from NIN.

See it for your self.
Cheers.
Paulskiart - Nano Projections 1 month ago

truly inspiring piece
L.Kherev 1 month ago

Tremendous concept, but you know that. Very beautiful. I wonder how a cross section of brain coral would sound...
cym 1 month ago

Beautiful concept!
gabriel rud 1 month ago

Great!
99aqgp 1 month ago

was hoping this would be a more literal translation... even if it sounded like a Florian Hecker outtake. Seems like using it to trigger a piano sound is adding information (the piano timbre and envelope) that didn't come from the tree, I wonder if more data from the tree could be used to modulate aspects of it?
omar zubair 1 month ago

I concur. I feel like I know less about the trees from this project than by just looking at the tree rings in good lighting.
Bartholomäus Traubeck 1 month ago

you are right. it is more like a generative sound machine, using data from the wood as its source for rhythm and notation than a representational and precise sonification of the data stored in year rings. many people see it that way, but it was never meant to have a tracable process, giving the recipient detailed insight into the actual life of an individual tree. for that the best practice is exactly what you proposed: look at it closely in a well lit environment. sorry if the whole thing mislead you.
Jamie Reibl 1 month ago

Groovy! (haha)
Jeff Beddow 1 month ago

The device is a poetic mashup of two disparate domains...the linear domain of the tracking arm and the planar domain of the actual ring pattern and surface texture. A pure mapping of the cross section of the wood could construe envelope and timbre information from second order sensor data derived completely from the scan of the wood. The same tricks could be used, with more effort, to derive all voicing from the linear input of the photocell, but it would probably be kind of boring over time, since the second and third order derivation formulae would assert themselves to the hearer's ears soon enough.

If I were to judge this as a submission to a musique concrete contest, I would give it a 6 out of ten for musical mapping from sensor input and a 9 out of ten for poetic metaphor.
Jeremiah Haynes 1 month ago

I didn't understand some parts of your comment, but you have some good points, I think it would be interesting to hear the sounds made from a purely linear analysis in one line from core to bark. It would be like a recording of the tree from birth to it's end of life, and hence a better musical mapping from sensor input. The repeating rings would set up a definite rhythm to the music too.

But don't get me wrong, the concept and music is still very interesting and creative, kudos to the creator for thinking of this and for the great filming. I think the description of the piece sounded very technical and scientific, so some of us were expecting a more purely logical approach to the sound mapping.
Edward Ling 1 month ago

Wow, this is just amazing. Such a simple yet elegant idea, I love it. The music is hauntingly beautiful, a true masterpiece
Victor Ingrassia 1 month ago

One of the human observations I project upon this piece is: the way older trees, with more rings, have a denser, more complex story to tell... It's kind of the reverse of the stereotype that young beings have more energy and have more to say.
Luís Vieira 1 month ago

Wow, you just opened my mind to an all new reality.
Music is everywhere.
perezramerstorfer 1 month ago

wonderful project
Ryan Henke 1 month ago

It's beautiful. This is nature communicating to us. Bravo! More please!
Servando Barreiro 4 weeks ago

Niiice!. I'm finishing this:
vimeo.com/35438712
password= applerecords
Bartholomäus Traubeck 4 weeks ago

interesting. do you use optosensors for that? is the signal depth limited to how many dots you can fit next to each other? (for example 12 possible dots that are still recognizable from each other means only 12 different possible signals?)
Servando Barreiro 4 weeks ago

hi! , I use 8 analog sensors (Ldr). then I convert from binary to digital in the computer (255 different possibilities per column). when in mode analog the resolution per every Ldr is 10 bit (1024 values). quite a lot of data actually.... I guess I could fit 12 dots but even 8 are a lot for this....
cheers!
sophie poppins 4 weeks ago

so poetical.. bringing the visual metaphor to your ears.
i blogged about it here:
soundtravelmachine.eu/years-bringing-the-visual-metaphor-to-your-ears/
Servando Barreiro 4 weeks ago

@BArth, I use 8 analog sensors (Ldr). then I convert from binary to digital in the computer (255 different possibilities per column). when in mode analog the resolution per every Ldr is 10 bit (1024 values). quite a lot of data actually.... I guess I could fit 12 dots but even 8 are a lot for this....
cheers!
Vanya Volkov 4 weeks ago

amazing!!!!!
flozki 4 weeks ago

wow.looks and sound nice.
i work on similar projects for for multi-channel installations and for a totally wood based dj set. but i play directly the rings.and use leaves,branches of the trees as a pickup adding magnets and wires..
check
vimeo.com/28590075
or
flickr.com/photos/bricolage-universel/6753925475/in/photostream

how do you manage not to break the wooden discs?
i can only use them for a short time. they crack very easy...
Bartholomäus Traubeck 4 weeks ago

it's very delicate veneer, applied to a mounting plate of about 4mm thickness made of acrylic plastic. was the only way i could find to keep them stable. i had some cut out of slabs of wood, rougly 2cm thick, they broke as fast as yours.
Bartholomäus Traubeck 4 weeks ago

i really like your work. the cactus thing is great. it is nice that it is so immediate without a lot of processing and stuff like that behind it.
Harrison Houde 4 weeks ago

How does it work? Thats amazing.
Bluefingers 4 weeks ago

very nice
Ferna Valdés 4 weeks ago

wow, great!
Gabriel Topete 4 weeks ago

Bravo!!
Shaun Macpherson 3 weeks ago

Excellent! Was just having a discussion today about non-human modes of creation. I love the idea that you've put parameters in place to allow a tree to make music.
Dimo Trifonov 3 weeks ago

incredible!
Jean-Baptiste Larrieu 3 weeks ago

Merci.
Bekon TM 3 weeks ago

as close to nature as you can musically get to..
nuria armengol 3 weeks ago

Beautiful metaphor, visually speaking. Why did you choose a piano sound? to make the sound from such an unusual sound input more easily recognizable?
J. Delila Vallot 3 weeks ago

lovely
miguel 3 weeks ago

great job :)
cymas 3 weeks ago

wow... just wow.. inspirational work.
Ryan Lensman 3 weeks ago

incredible!
Jackson Morley 3 weeks ago

Love it!
Mike Kobal 3 weeks ago

truly intriguing, one of the best visualizations of time I have ever seen, ein wahres philosophisches statement, Respekt, Herr Traubeck
g holt 3 weeks ago

the idea is brilliant. I should only imagine (and I'm sure everyone has their imaginings) that a tree would have a more subtle or dynamic - and beautiful - song to sing.
78 x 29 3 weeks ago

Absolutely intriguing and just... what an amazing concept and execution. Every part forms the whole, it's wonderful.
Joe Brunett 3 weeks ago

i love this..awesome!
cokelabra 3 weeks ago

really, really, really amazing, and when I say really amazing I really mean it. Keep on going!!!
sogni birchofiani 3 weeks ago

Wow! Great!
chiara rizzolo 3 weeks ago

one of the greatest things I've ever seen/heard in my life.
Fatdigits 3 weeks ago

A remarkably intelligent intersection of technology and nature
Portable 3 weeks ago

Incredible work, Bartholomaus! We were happy to feature it here portable.tv/art/post/tree-ring-records/
Bryndís Blackadder 3 weeks ago

Wow! I love this! Beautifully executed! I'm surprised it wasn't done before in a way as I've often thought slices of trees looked like records. I would have had no clue how to actually program this piece though :( :) Brilliant! :D
kb 3 weeks ago

the more i watch this the more dramatic it feels :)
poignant, and melancholic, those beautiful trees and their songs !
just so you know i added your piece to "the first time" channel vimeo.com/channels/262185
Jan T 2 weeks ago

Nicely done. it's up at bloodyloud.com
Man Under Moon 2 weeks ago

Beautiful ! Intriguing, and wonderful.
Type Fabric 2 weeks ago

Absolutely Beautiful!

We put it on our Blog.
typefabric.ch/Blog.php
Christian Carrière 2 weeks ago

Wow ! I love it !
CALLING MARIAN 2 weeks ago

this is pure genius
John S. Richards 2 weeks ago

Very nice! The video was a little grainy ; )
Tuan N. Tran 2 weeks ago

i love it!
Vormplatform 2 weeks ago

Great project!

We posted it on our blog:

vormplatform.com/2012/02/years.html
Michael Goldstein 2 weeks ago

our God is so incredibly creative.
Richard Baron 2 weeks ago

I could drive to this music!
Ostrario 2 weeks ago

Yeah Baschti, super Arbeit und endlich sichtbar! Auf bald hoffe ich.
Bartholomäus Traubeck 2 weeks ago

danke, und yess auf bald!
AudieWulong 2 weeks ago

the sounds of the universe...
Anastasiia Lamanova 2 weeks ago

That's magical. We can listen to the history of a trees life. Thanks for that.
david winship 1 week ago

love this! posted here: minimalexposition.blogspot.com/2012/02/bartholomaus-traubeck-sound-of-years.html
Daniel Boa 6 days ago

Man this is outstanding. That is all.