Looking Outwards : 10

Weather Thingy by Adrien Kaeser is a project that uses a sound controller that takes weather and climate events and then modifies them into musical notes and the sounds they make.

This real time instrument is made up of two parts, a weather station on a tripod microphone and a custom built controller connected to the weather station. The controller has sensors that collect data from the climate it is in and the controller interprets the data to create different sounds. The machine can collect sophisticated weather data by means of a rain gauge, a wind vane and an anemometer. The user then uses the interface to choose what sensor he is working with and uses a potentiometer to modify the data and create different sounds.

I found this project particularly interesting because of its presence in real time and its ability to act as a diary. It is also possible to use the device in the studio by pre-recording the climate data of a certain place at a certain time. This allows the musicians to capture moments that he/she have found inspiring to create new melodies. I can see the potential of using this to study climate change and begin to review the effects over time.