Dreaming of antimatter

Oct 07, 2018, 09:32 AM

Everything heard within this piece is created from processed audio captured within CERN.

I wanted to create a dreamlike version of the type of sounds I imagined CERN might produce if you could hold a contact mic against the ground within the complex - capturing all the sounds of the various experiments and activities going on (some of CERN's experiments are deep underground).

Using midi randomisation across the various contact mic recordings, I created a morphing array of the various knocks and clunks produced from CERN machinery. The addition of a grain delay effect on some of this audio feels like it might be a slowed down recording of the numerous particle collisions performed within CERN experiments. In the background, meanwhile, the machines at the antimatter factory continue to chug away. Processed sections of this audio provide the airy pad like sounds, whilst pitched down audio from the Universe of Particles exhibition provide the melodies and voice. 

Reimagined by Andy Gillham.