​In Concert With Glass

'Sounding Glass' is an interactive glass object that explores the sounds of its making through human touch to offer a unique, playable, musical experience for the user.  The object form was designed to make reference to the musical hang drum instrument that is played by hand. When a handler touches 'Sounding Glass', the physical contact will initiate sounds of glassmaking which we recorded in glass studios. Those sounds along with newly developed sounds based on the recordings are "embedded" in the object at numerous touch points. These sounds have all been orchestrated to work together sonically within the piece; the glass can actually be played as if it were a musical instrument. It works because its hollow interior is a complex scheme of Arduino boards and electronics, which use copper strips attached to the interior glass surface to conduct human capacitance (natural human electrical charge) for operating the sound programs contained in the computer to which it attaches. Team members on 'Sounding Glass' include Lisa Naas, David Faleris, Al Bennett, Ingrid Phillips, Meg McGregor, Alan Horsley, Marcin Pietruszewski, and Laura Reed.