Small Sounds is a study of acoustic sound generated through a digital medium. In amplifying the sound of four objects in motion, we hoped to create an atmospheric installation of site-specific noise.

Small objects were placed in four separate containers attached to motors and suspended in the project box. Vibration-sensitive contact microphones were attached to each of the containers to capture the sounds emitted by the vibrations of the objects in each of the containers. The user, standing several feet away from the box facing the closed end of the box, turns the record to interact with the installation. As the record is turned, different combinations of containers begin to vibrate, turning on and off, thus amplifying the sound of the objects within through large speakers. There is a performance aspect to the installation--the user, the one controlling the record, can hear the small sounds amplified through the speakers. The audience, standing on the other side of the box, can view and hear the motors running and the objects moving, but they cannot hear the amplified sounds of the objects vibrating.