Fluisterende wind - photo © Edwin van der Heide

With this passage a new pathway between the Leiden Observatory and the Hortus Botanicus has been created that is part of the Singelpark route.

The artwork consists of a wall relief of 12.5 by 2.5 meters and an 8-channel generative sound composition. The composition creates a continuum between noise and human voice which results in moments when wind seems to be whispering.

The sound of the installation is generated and spatialized in real-time. The work uses a library of recorded spoken words that are being analyzed in order to extract the spectral envelop that describes the timbral resonances of the throat, mouth and nose over time and used to filter white noise in such a way that it starts to whisper. The detail of the filtering and the played speed are parameters used in the generative process and result in a true continuum between pure noise and voiced (but unpitched) sound while the speed can vary from very slowly, nearly frozen, changing resonances to almost perceivable words.

The wall relief has been generated using a spectral analysis (sonogram) of a voice changing from vowel to vowel over time while maintaining a constant pitch. The vowel transitions are composed in such a way as to result in an aesthetical and contrasting visual composition.

Whispering Wind was established at the initiative of Marcel Cobussen, professor of Auditory Culture at Leiden University's Academy of Creative and Performing Arts in 2017.

location:
P.J. Veth Building, Leiden University
Nonnensteeg 1-3, 2311 VJ Leiden, Netherlands

opening hours:
Monday - Friday: 08:00 - 17:30 hrs
Saturday - Sunday: 10:00 - 17:00 hrs

Fluisterende wind on Leiden University's website