A group of Drexel University students and faculty, in collaboration with Opera Philadelphia, have come up with a new way to capture the beauty of a song. They created a device that translates the pitch and volume of a singer’s performance into a work of visual art. The device will take center stage at Vox Ex Machina, Opera Philadelphia’s 50th Anniversary Gala, on Sept. 13, creating a one-of-a-kind concert experience for the audience.
Last winter, Drexel’s Lenfest Center for Cultural Partnerships sponsored a course with Opera Philadelphia for engineering and music industry students that brought together experts from Drexel’s ExCITe Center, music industry program adjunct faculty and creative technologist Daniel Belquer, and subject-matter experts from Opera Philadelphia to create a piece of technology that could merge the mediums of musical and visual art.
Belquer, who is an artist in residence at the Center and also the creator of a sonically responsive textile that enables the enjoyment of music by individuals with hearing loss as part of his work with the Music: Not Impossible Labs, worked with students from Drexel’s College of Engineering, School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, and Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design to conceptualize a series of prototypes. Experts from Opera Philadelphia provided guidance and helped to select the most effective design components, before commissioning the creation of a full-size, functional device.
“This was an exciting opportunity for our students from both engineering and music industry disciplines to collaborate alongside world-class experts on a creative endeavor,” said Youngmoo Kim, PhD, vice provost for University and Community Partnerships and director of the ExCITe Center, who is also a professor in Drexel’s College of Engineering. “It also built upon our prior collaborations with an iconic Philadelphia institution to create an entirely new experience for their audience.”
The device, dubbed “Vox Ex Machina” — fittingly, a play on the literary term “deus ex machina” referring to a plot device when an unlikely solution emerges to solve a complicated problem — looks something like a CNC router (a computer-controlled cutting tool), but with an oversized foam swab instead of a bit. The swab is mounted on a track system that can move it around to etch a 30 by 40-inch glass surface, coated with multiple layers of whiteboard ink, that serves as the canvas for the piece.
“While we approached this as an engineering project, with a specific set of parameters — including making a device that reliably functioned while not distracting the singers or disturbing the performance — we learned a great deal about the art and technical aspect of operatic performance during the design process,” said Jacob Zolda, an undergraduate student in Drexel’s College of Engineering, who was one of 16 students who participated in the class that conceived the device. “Seeing how it operates with a live performer is such a unique experience and it’s gratifying to see the device in action after being there at every step of the design and production process.”
The visual “recording” is produced through a subtractive production process. As the swab head moves across the glass canvas, corresponding to the volume and pitch of the song, it wipes away portions of the coating, revealing the layer beneath. Upon completion, the glass is backlit, revealing the intricacies of the song’s visual recording.
“I call it a ‘negative painting,” Belquer said. “The concept feels like a very appropriate way to translate music because a beautiful vocal performance cuts through silence in a very intricate and unique way. This device is responsive to the most minute sonic variations, so it creates an incredibly specific and on-of-a-kind piece for each song.”
At the Opera’s anniversary gala, the device will translate five performances from five different singers into unique works of art that will be displayed and auctioned at a celebration dinner at Reading Terminal Market at the conclusion of the celebration.
“This partnership has enabled us to produce a singular event that harnesses a bold new technology marrying music and visual art to launch our 50th Anniversary Season,” said Opera Philadelphia General Director and President Anthony Roth Costanzo. “Vox Ex Machina will bring together opera luminaries who have a rich history with the company to perform favorites from the operatic canon alongside new music, all while their voices are translated into visual works of art live on stage at the Academy of Music.”
This project is the latest collaboration between Drexel and Philadelphia arts organizations led by the ExCITe Center, including a partnership with the Philadelphia Orchestra to create an interactive concert app for mobile devices; another connection with Opera Philadelphia to develop a primer course for Gene Scheer’s production of “Cold Mountain;” and with support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, produce a special concert called “Science of Jazz,” illustrating the sonic science behind jazz music.
In addition to Zolda, Cole Seidel, Burak Demirelli and David Lu, students in the College of Engineering; and Luke Hathaway, a student from Princeton University, contributed to the production of the device.
For more information about the Vox Ex Machina gala, visit: https://www.operaphila.org/whats-on/2526-season/vox-ex-machina/