Since the beginning of our collaboration in 1985, we have been involved in a wide range of activities, such as performances, concerts and theatre productions. Twelve years ago, we switched our focus to the development of "music machines". Since then, regardless of project, we have adhered to the same basic principles. All our installations are dynamic: sound and movement are in constant development. No trickery is involved. The installations play their own game in a fascinating world bordering between order and chaos. Our influence is marginal in a process that needs both time and rest to flourish.
To a certain level the machines have creative potential by itself. Since our first vibratory projects in 1993, sound, construction and scientific principles have been inseparable. Most of these works can be described as "complex sprung constructions". Our best known work within this series is the Krachtgever, a wall of vibrating rough wooden transport crates, which received a prize at the Prix Ars Electronica in 1998. This leaden, dynamic sculpture, robust of sound and material exhudes a sense of danger that is both audible and visual.
Cantan un Huevo is physically closely related to the Krachtgever, but is perhaps more sophisticated. While all elements in the Krachtgever are interconnected, Cantan un Huevo consists of nine to fifteen independent vibration units, each with a behavior as complex as a complete Krachtgever. Hundreds of metal springs, originally tied together to serve as a mattress, form an extremely complex surface when put into movement. A light-weight oscillating motor causes glass bottles, placed on these mattress springs, to rattle against on another. Only glass is heard. The idea for this work developed from the remarkable recordings we made on a ship from Kiel to Oslo. The imperceptible vibrations from the ship caused the liquor bottles on the shelves in the tax-free shop to rattle, and the effect was quite hallucinatory. The vibration was a lovely long, slow wave which caused sound to swell out of nothing and to fade back in the same way. Over and over again. The first version of Cantan un Huevo consisted of only five shaking-tables and was commissioned by the Ives Ensemble, Amsterdam. An airy and subtle celebration of sound, performed by four musicians together with the installation and premiered at the IJsbreker, Amsterdam, March 2000. A bigger version with nine shaking-tables was premiered at the Tschumi Paviljoen, Groningen, July 2000. Finally for an exhibition at Metrònom, Barcelona, December 2001 the installation was expanded to a total of fifteen shaking-tables. The sonic output was greatly increased in terms of complexity and dynamics, varying from subtle, almost-silence to massive clouds of high frequencies.
The software that we developed for our vibratory projects is generally based on the same concept. The keyword is resonant frequency. Each box, bottle or any part of a construction has several resonant frequencies. One basic translation, rotations and multiples of these frequencies ( overtones, in music terms) can be applied to one object or to combinations of objects. One can easily imagine that a construction of over a hundred springs and with many bottles of different sizes, has thousands of resonant frequencies. The oscillating motors we use do nothing more than move gradually from a start to an end speed within different ranges and with different durations. We call a combination of start and end speeds and the slope which defines the duration a phrase. Once a motor 'hits' a resonant frequency of an object by rotating at exactly the same frequency, this object will start to move. The computer treats each motor independently, running up to fifteen routines simultaniously. Although it controls the mechanics, it can foresee only partly the physical outcome of its decisions. The constructions themselves also play an important part in the sonic result. A strong movement of a vibration unit does not die out at once and will therefore effect the outcome of a following phrase, while small changes in the position of a bottle may influence the movement and sound of other bottles placed on the same mattress. This implies that the exact same phrase may sound completely different next time. In all our machines the software is only an instrument used to get the best out of the physical conditions we create. It does not dictate the movement or its sonic consequences, it only intensifies inherent properties of complex constructions.