Siren Bike
What is sound and how do its properties relate to music? The Siren-Bike combines experimental physics and music theory to explore this question. It serves as both an educational tool and a performance piece, highlighting the relationship between rhythm and harmony.
Until the 19th century, music theory was much more closely linked to the sciences than it is today. At first, it was primarily strings that served as the object of study for harmonics and acoustics, with the monochord experiments of Pythagoras (c. 570-495 BC) being one of the earliest and best-known examples. The theory of harmony based on integer ratios that resulted from these experiments is still valid today. For a long time, however, it remained unclear why these ratios resulted in consonant intervals. Herrmann von Helmholtz formulated it in his seminal work “On the Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Basis for the Theory of Music”:
[…] but I am not aware that any real progress has been made in answering the question, what have musical consonances to do with the ratios of the first six integers? Musicians as well as philosophers and physicists have usually been reassured by the answer that the human soul can determine the numerical ratios of tone vibrations in some way unknown to us and that it takes particular pleasure in having simple and easily comprehensible ratios before it.
Helmholtz’s approach to answering this question was to study the structure of individual sounds in more detail. An important instrument for acoustic experiments in the 19th and 20th centuries was the siren, used not only by Helmholtz (1821-1894) but also by the physicists Seebeck (1770-1831) and Ohm (1789-1854). It owes its name to Charles Cagniard de la Tour (1777-1859), who was able to produce sound under water with his innovative construction. Helmholtz conducted numerous experiments and developed new designs such as the double siren.
This installation makes it possible to experience the siren in an interactive and playful way. The speed of the disc, which is the modified rear wheel of the bike, and therefore the pitch of the sound, is controlled by the paddling speed. Valves on the handlebars allow the rider to control the mix of different tones, creating unique musical compositions.
I developed this installation in collaboration with- Caspar Johannes Walter (concept, designs for the discs)
- Robert Salzweldel and Michelle Grunwald (mechanical setup, 3D design and 3D printing), as part of lab:prepare ↗
- 12.-18.03.2020 Berlin Festival of Contemporary Music for the Beethoven Anniversary, Akademie der Künste, Hanseantenweg, Berlin (partially cancelled due to the pandemic) ↗
- 26.09.2020 Konzert zum Abschluss der 8. Kompositionsresidenz Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes in Kooperation mit dem Beethoven-Haus Bonn, Mühe(los), Composition for Siren Bike und Akkordeon by Lina Posėčnaitė
- 30.09.-03.10.2021 Experimental-Atelier Mikrotonalität, Ausstellung und Präsentationen von Instrumenten, einem Klangarchiv und Objekten der Experimentalphysik, 21. Jahreskongress der Gesellschaft für Musiktheorie (GMTH) - Tonsysteme und Stimmungen, Hochschule für Musik FHNW / Musik-Akademie Basel ↗
- 07.09.2022 Festival für Selbstgebaute Musik w/ Experimental Stage Project, Holzmarkt, Berlin ↗
