2024 Fermilab Guest Composer Project – “In Sympathy”
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been captivated by the natural world; its mysteries, its origins, and the patterns that lie beneath. When I was appointed the 2024 guest composer at Fermilab to work with the nation’s leading physicists, I saw a chance to transform scientific wonder into sound. The result was In Sympathy, a work born from an immersive journey, where physics and music intertwined, shaping a piece that invites listeners to hear the universe in a new way.
When I met theoretical physicist Chris Quigg at Fermilab, his explanation of finding particles through resonance struck me deeply. Just as a resonant tone can set a glass ringing, resonant peaks reveal the existence of particles. Inspired, I began designing a system where resonant tones from instruments in performance could set glasses placed among the audience into vibration. My vision was that this “action at a distance”, rooted in quantum field theory, could be made physically experiential as audiences witness creation emerge through resonance.
I began with the simple experiment of singing a resonant pitch to a glass and though a tone from the glass was audible, it was too faint to hear in any kind of live performance situation. To amplify this resonance, I had explored transducers and when I connected with Todd Johnson, a Fermilab laser specialist, he directed me to a bone conduction transducer available from an online electronics company called Adafruit. While simple, it had potential. He offered guidance on integrating it with a circuit board, and as I assembled it, we tested it with tone generators. Todd’s expertise helped transform subtle resonance into something audible.
I then started experimenting with instruments. First with my son’s violin and then at the piano. During one session, I unwittingly placed the microphone within pickup range of the glasses. I was surprised when they continued to ring after the piano stopped. I soon realized a feedback loop had been created and this hinted at a solution to sustain the glass’s resonance beyond that of the exciting instrument itself. But feedback is unstable, so I realized I needed precise control to be able to start and stop that feedback at will, rather than leaving it to chance.
Knowing the interactive audio programming environment Max/MSP could be programmed to handle this, I approached my colleague Brad Robin, who was highly proficient with it. Together, we shaped a program that detected resonant pitches and controlled the glass’ sustain. It managed the amplitude and timing of each note employing a sophisticated gating system and precise frequency detection parameters. Through careful collaboration, we gained control over the dynamics and length of all nine glasses in the array.
In the performance, the nine glasses were placed among the audience, offering each listener a unique experience of resonance and “action at a distance”, mirroring quantum field theory, where something arises from seemingly nothing. In that moment, the audience didn’t just hear the music but rather were immersed in the very phenomenon of resonance, experiencing creation from vibration.
I could never have imagined as an artist that I could tangibly express some of the deep-seated awe I have felt throughout my life as I quietly observed our world and universe in wonder. I am deeply grateful to the brilliant physicists at Fermilab and my wonderful collaborators for helping me realize what once seemed an impossibility when I first imagined it. The work is dedicated to those brilliant minds and to all who share the belief that the great mysteries of the world underlie humanity’s deepest capacity for connection and love.