String Quartet for iPod Shuffle, 2009
iPod Shuffle models, Speakers, Dimensions Variable, Duration Variable
This piece is a four-channel audio work using iPod shuffle models as interacting random sound banks. Separate mono recordings are made of each member of a string quartet playing long tones of assigned notes to a strobe tuner. These notes are edited into individual files or “tracks”. A playlist is created in iTunes for each instrument containing all of the notes for that instrument in addition to a number of tracks containing different lengths of silence. Each playlist is transferred to an assigned iPod. In presentation, the ipods play in shuffle mode simultaneously, each through separate single speakers at corners of a room. The piece plays indefinitely without ever repeating while the audience is free to walk through the room and explore the space.