Releasing the music in the Golden Gate Bridge

Composer Bill Fontana has been making sound art since the 1970s
By: Bruel & Kjaer
 
April 11, 2012 - PRLog -- Using accelerometers, microphones, speakers and amplifiers - for uses that their designers surely never foresaw - composer Bill Fontana has been making sound art since the 1970s.

Trained as a composer, he soon found an interest in the physics of sound, and in the music inherent in the sounds of everyday life, as well as the developing world of modern music that uses sounds created with technological means.

Since then, his innovative vision has become internationally renowned through critically acclaimed installations all around the world. Big Ben, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Arc de Triomphe are just some of the celebrated locations to have had their pulses felt by Bill as he sets out to show us the music that exists within both structures and everyday sounds.

Speaking in February 2012, Bill was beginning work on the next great creation, wiring up San Francisco’s vast landmark with accelerometers to celebrate its 75th anniversary. When his installation ‘opens’ in May this year, it will be Bill’s second project featuring the famous bridge. The first, in 1981, was a live replay of sounds like deep, booming foghorns from different parts of the bridge, as well as a nearby seabird refuge.

This time though, he’s more interested in the vibrations. “I really want to release that inner sound,” he says. “I have been climbing all over the bridge with some signal analyzers and having fun testing it out for the installation. It’s an alive structure, and tapping into that is very exciting. Putting an accelerometer on either side of an expansion joint on the bridge sounds great, almost like something that chimes.”

“My favourite Brüel & Kjær product is a charge amplifier,” says Bill. “It runs on batteries when necessary, and I like that when you connect a charge accelerometer to it you have so much control over the accelerometers.”

Alongside plenty of other equipment, his Charge Amplifier Type 2635 stands out due to the great control it gives over the signal you get. With input for transducers like accelerometers or hydrophones, and an audio output, it can connect structures to a variety of reproduction sources.

“The charge amplifier’s front panel is so precise that it is possible to very accurately alter the sound in very fine adjustments. You have a great deal of control,” he says.

Over the years, Brüel & Kjær equipment has made an appearance everywhere that Bill’s projects have. In addition to the aforementioned hardware, he has used Brüel & Kjær Hydrophones Types 8103 and 8104, as well as some Type 4006 studio microphones bought in 1991.

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About Brüel & Kjær
Brüel & Kjær is a world-leading manufacturer and supplier of sound and vibration measurement systems. Brüel & Kjær helps its customers measure and manage the quality of sound and vibration in their products and in the environment. Focus areas are aerospace, space, defence, automotive, ground transportation, airport environment, urban environment, telecom, and audio.

Brüel & Kjær has an unparalleled portfolio of sound and vibration equipment, and is a renowned deliverer of innovative instrumentation, including sound level meters, microphones, accelerometers, conditioning amplifiers, calibrators, noise and vibration analysers and software. To see the full range of products and systems, please visit www.bksv.com

Brüel & Kjær also runs a variety of training courses, from basic introductions to noise and it’s effects to more specialised classes teaching customers how to get the most out of their equipment. Free, online training courses - conducted by our expert engineers - run throughout the year too. For all course registration details visit http://www.bksv.com/courses

Brüel & Kjær is a subsidiary of UK-based Spectris plc (www.spectris.com) which has annual sales of £1.1bn and employs around 7,500 people worldwide across its four business segments

For additional information please contact:
Heather Wilkins
Marketing Coordinator
Bruel & Kjaer
Telephone: 01763 255 780
Web: www.bksv.com
Email: heather.wilkins@bksv.com

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World-leading manufacturer and supplier: sound and vibration solutions for environmental noise measurements, building acoustics, vibration measurements and quality control for use in the automotive, aerospace, consumer industries, local authorities
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