Sonoglider Duet
2024Created in partnership with Scott Kildall
Sonoglider Duet is a musical performance created entirely from live flight data collected from two remote-controlled gliders as they soar above the Pacific Ocean.
Reacting to wind currents, the gliders transmit altitude, turn (roll), g-force and direction (north, south, east and west) data to our “ground control” station. Custom software then transforms this data into ambient music that reflects their movement in the sky by custom software.
As they dive and roll, responding to each other’s maneuvers, the gliders create an improvised performance as the glider pilots hear the music and respond to the flight controllers.
The music is a data-based composition with non-predictive elements to it, building upon the work of chance composition, as pioneered by John Cage. Using data to form the basis of instrument playback and note selection, this performance treats the gliders as sensors themselves for wind currents that we may not perceive..
Using an ethereal and light sound design, the notes ascend in pitch as the gliders move higher in the sky and include other delightful features with each of the data channels. One glider plays its soundtrack in the left channel and the other in the right channel, creating a compositional synthesis.
Credits
Project by Michael Ang and Scott Kildall
Pilots: Moshen Chan, Michael Ang
Video: Michael Ang, Eddie Codel, Moshen Chan