Sensor Music

Developed by Paul Tsnobiladzé and Johan Delouche with the collaboration of François Parra.

Our goal was to develop a mobile application aimed at creating dynamically music depending on our electromagnetic environment. We used an audio engine called Pure Data to create the sound. Depending on the different inputs (magnetic sensor, GSM signal strength, Wifi signal strength, etc...), different parameters of the music are modulated (tempo, rhythm, pitch, etc...). By walking around with your smartphone, you can then listen to a unique music composition which illustrates something you cannot usually “feel”: your electromagnetic environment.

This application is a student project between the École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint-Étienne ISMIN and the École Supérieure d'Art d'Aix-En-Provence.

Some explanations :

The GSM signal strength controls the tempo of the music (BPM - Beat Per Minute).
The magnetic field strength controls the pitch of the lead pad.
When the magnetic field strength reaches a certain value, the pitch of the lead pad stops getting higher and an alternative rhythm with an opened hi-hat sequence.
The way you rotate your phone to the left or to the right controls the panoramic of the lead pad sound, ie pans the sound to the left or to the right channel.
The Wifi signal strength controls the amount of the beat delay effects which is added to the drum sounds.