Resonant ELF
An ELF radio feedback system by Absolute Value of Noise © 2010
Made for Art's Birthday January 17th, 2010

A creature of the season, Resonant Elf plays with radio feedback between two large magnetic coil antennas.

You can listen to this piece on Bandcamp

Resonant Elf uses a radio transmitter that operates in the ELF (extrememly low frequency) range. This corresponds with the frequencies of the audio spectrum - the range that the human ear can perceive (20 Hz to 20,000 Hz).

I have been working with ELF/VLF receivers for a few years (magnetic focus), using them to pickup ambient radiation in my studio, performance spaces, and various locations around Vancouver. The receivers pickup magnetic radiation given off by power-lines, transformers, and fold-down from higher frequency transmitters (radio transmitters, computers, monitors, cell phones, anything electronic).

For Resonant Elf, I built a feedback system between an ELF transmitter and the receiver, and tuned the receiver to collect 24 patterns of sound. The feedback becomes mixed with spurious noises from the electronic devices in the studio. The resulting sounds are then animated in software to produce an endless generative composition.

Resonant ELF has been streamed to and rebroadcast by:

NoiseartRadio for Art's Birthday, midnight-midnight (PST) January 17th, 2010.

Radio Zero as part of the Radio Futura component of Future Places 2011, a festival in Lisbon, Portugal, October 18-22, 2011.

A streaming and remixing project by Robert Paci Dalò and ARTonAIR.org as part of the Celeste Prize show at The Invisible Dog Art Center in NYC, November 11, 2011.

A live performance streamed to Glitch Art with jonCates at Neutral Ground in Regina, September 14, 2013.

absolutevalueofnoise.ca   |   audio available on bandcamp