Past Tense: A DragonRuby Sound Installation Built on libpd (opens in new tab)

Two to four tablets sit on plinths in a gallery. Each one is listening: a contact mic on the floor, an electromagnetic pickup near the wall, a shortwave radio scanning. A black-hole visualization fills the screen, slowly accreting whatever the room is making. Visitors swipe a circular slider and release short bursts back into the system. The bursts are fragments of the captured sound, transformed in flight by synthesizers and effects they unlock by spending time with the piece. This is Past T...