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Music from Sand

  • I had some sandbags in the backyard that I used in November during a rainy day. I was moving them to a different spot when I heard the noise of the sand. I thought that maybe I could try a new sound design technique so I bought some piezo film transducers and started to experiment with them.

    The entire track is created only out of tuned sand tones. No additional sounds or waveforms.
    I emphasized the inner notes of the sand grains and mapped them on a sampler as a series of instruments. The grooves are all played live with various techniques, including taping two piezo films to my fingers.

    I'd like to dedicate this work to Mike Oldfield. When I was a child I listened to his music and it opened my mind. That experience triggered my life passion to create the means to access sounds we've never heard before.

    Update 06/08/09.
    Music From Sand is now available as a high-quality mp3 download. This version is a full track, longer than the version in the video.
  • Video
  • Pictures
  • The McIntyre Acoustic Feather contact microphone. This is designed to be used with a mandolin, but it sounded great also used with the sand.
  • Sampling the basic sand tones.
  • Taping the DT Series Piezo Film to my fingers. These are mainly designed for industrial applications, but I thought that I could use them to turn my hands into percussive instruments. I already have some other ideas on how to use this technique.
  • At the beach, setting up the portable recorder. I was listening to the track playing from an iPod, and playing the sand in sync with the music.