Metronome

1999 Max/MSP sound installation for the Metronome project of Andrew Ginzel and Kristen Jones. Union Square, NYC.

A fantastic speaker system was installed in this art installation by Meyer Sound. It featured four speakers at the ground level and a magnificent parabolic speaker in the eye of the sculpture. The parabolic was capable of projecting sound across into the Union Square Park without disturbing the neighbors.

A Max/MSP computer program created by Mathew Wright at CNMAT would restart each day and sync with Greewich Mean Time via a modem. The patch was stocked with astronomical event data up to 2025 including all full moons, exact moments of sunsets, equinoxes etc.. Sounds would emit from the sculpture according to these perfectly timed events.

Originally, the installation was to run forever, but problems with tenants of the building where the installation was housed and other problems with the developers forced the artists to turn down the sound level on the installation.