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Simina Oprescu

electroacoustic composer & sound artist




Available for order on Hallow Ground label Bandcamp
Lmt. vinyl sold out







In the archive of Märchises and Staadt Museum in Berlin, exist 15 church bells, dating from the 15th century to the beginning of the 19th. They have all the historical information, including their weight, height, diameter, and material. Most of them are made out of bronze but there are two of them, sitting in front of the museum, that are made out of steel. Each one of the densities of the materials influences the tuning system of the bell and therefore the tone.

After some research, I arrived at the formula of how to calculate the fundamental f of the bell - which in bell language will be translated as Hum, then we will have on the scale the Prime, Tierce, Quint, and the highest Nominal. Each one of them is contained inside the shape of a bell. After I’ve used the formula f = K1t/d2√E/s(1-m2) which includes the K - constant of the material, s - density of the material, t -  thickness of bell at the sound bow, diameter, m - Poisson’s Ratio, E - Young's modulus; I was able to apply f into a Max patch and find its partials to re-create the harmonic tone of the bell. Because of the beating effect that is resulting between the different frequencies, I can sense a movement of sound if I move my head and hear the Nominal and Prime tones, that sometimes are more dominant. The sum of all the different frequencies, being overlayed with multiple Hums creates a multi-dimensional movement in its subtlety and cancels out all the echoes from the space.
© SiminaOprescu