Inspired by the aesthetics of math and physics and works with simple and complex systems, New-York-based Tristan Perich decided to combine this inspiration with his love of music. The result is the 1-Bit Symphony, a connection of a physical medium with the digital world to create a new form of digital art.
The simplest way to describe conceptual musician Tristan Perich’s 1-Bit Symphony is to call it a homemade electronic music device housed in a CD case.
The 1-Bit Symphony is not a musical recording in the conventional sense but an electronic composition in five movements on a single microchip which performs the music live when the device is turned on.
A complete electronic circuit plays the music through a headphone jack mounted into the CD jewel case itself. The user, or rather the artist, programs and assembles the music by hand, adding the unique sound that makes this gadget cool.
The device uses on and off electrical pulses, synthesised by assembly code and routed from microchip to speaker to manifest the data as sound. Perich explains: “The device treats electricity as a sonic medium, making an intimate connection between the materiality of hardware and the abstract logic of software.”
The format of the 1-Bit Symphony is electronic the music reflects Perich’s interest in orchestral composition. 1-Bit Symphony will be released by Cantaloupe Music in August 2010.
