I Spread
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Physical Modeling, Speculative Instruments & Immersive Sound
I Spread explores the imagined sonic behavior of biological forms through physical-modeling synthesis. Using 3D representations of trees and tree stumps as the basis for experimental digital instruments, the project investigates how organic structures can be reinterpreted as sound-producing systems and used as material for immersive composition.
ROLE: Sound Designer · Creative Technologist
TOOLS / METHODS: Modalys · Physical Modeling Synthesis · 3D Meshes · Digital Instrument Design · Multichannel Audio
FORMAT: Custom Digital Instruments · Immersive Audiovisual Work
PRESENTATION:
Zeiss-Grossplanetarium · Berlin
cité de sciences et industrie · Paris
Cult VR · Cardiff (Awarded Best Sound Experience)
Jena Grossplanetarium · Jena, DE (Nominated to Best Emerging Artist)
THE CONCEPT
Based on scientific experiments, this project explores the possibility of trees as bioluminescent entities. Reflecting about “synthetic biomes”, or the human manipulation of ecosystems, physical modeling synthesis was employed, to simulate the sounds of hypothetical biological systems based on their real physical qualities. The project aims to create biological, synthetic sonic environments, prompting reflection on our ability to give shape and voice to the imaginary in the context of our interaction with the physical world.
This project emerges from the alternate and the hypothetical—an inquiry into the possible and the imaginary. It draws from scientific research into the creation of bioluminescent trees through the transfer of genetic material from naturally luminous organisms such as jellyfish, algae, and fungi. Such experiments imagine a future in which trees could illuminate cities at night, reducing dependence on artificial street lighting and its associated energy consumption.
At the core of the work is the idea of synthetic biomes: environments directly altered through human intervention. Transferring genetic material from one organism to another raises questions of perception, adaptation, and disruption. Drawing an analogy through sound, I Spread injects sonic processes into stable systems, generating evolving webs derived from the physical properties and behaviors of living beings. What might hypothetical biological systems sound like? What interruptions, glitches, and interferences might emerge through their transformation?
I Spread seeks to visualize and give voice to these variations, opening a fissure into an alternate world—one that mirrors our own while subtly shifting its rhythms, textures, and forms.
THE INSTRUMENTS:
The instruments in I Spread were created from 3D renders of real trees and tree trunks, which I brought into Modalys and used as the physical structures for sound synthesis. Rather than treating the models only as visual objects, I used their geometry as the basis for virtual resonating bodies, exploring how their physical forms could behave as hypothetical musical instruments.
Through physical-modeling synthesis, these structures became playable sonic systems, allowing the forms of the trees themselves to shape the resulting timbres and resonances.
THE SOUNDS
Sonic environments and sound samples produced using custom tree-instruments created through physical modeling synthesis in Modalys.