Looking Outwards 09

The fourth Looking Outwards blog post my peer Tak wrote was about “The Weather Thingy,” a device that takes climate data and weather information and translates it into sound. “The Weather Thingy (c. 2018)” was created by Adrian Kaeser and gathers information about the weather from sensors and rescripts that to affect the sounds coming out of a synthesizer. I think that this project is outstanding and adds an element of randomness to the music. I also appreciate how it contrasts the calculated, digital qualities of electronic music through its incorporation of sounds from nature and the environment. I agree with Tak’s appreciation of how this device allows artists and musicians to convey and share how they percieve nature. However, I think that it’s also important to note that while the weather filters and effects what the artist is playing on the midi notes, so this device could also be considered an auditory collaboration between humans and nature rather than humans merely letting nature into creative process.