Art Game: Scott Smallwood's "Sync or Swim II" (2011)

"Sync or Swim is an interactive sound installation that is also a simple audio game. The object of the game is to find the “sync point” of several melodic/rhythmic layers that are operating at slightly different tempi. Turning a knob on the interface changes the tempi of the various layers by slightly different amounts – and finding the “sweet spot” brings all layers into synchronization.  [...] This piece is an examination of ways to create audio games that are also interactive sonic art works. The challenge was to create an aesthetic sound experience that the user can interact with, but that “reveals” itself to the listener as a game, opening up the possibility of changing the state of the composition in significant ways, and to discover the possibilities of the compositional variables. At its core, it is a simple algorithmic sound piece that is made up of a series of looping patterns that are randomly generated and juxtaposed, within specific aesthetic characteristics." (Scott Smallwood)

LInk: Scott Smallwood

Submitted by Matteo Bittanti