The Community Synthesizer
The Community Synthesizer
Created in collaboration with the Stamps Scholars Program and the Media Arts and Design Department at The University of Chicago, The Community Synthesizer is a musical “synthesizer” (not synthesize as in synthetic/fake but synthesize as in condensing a lot of information into a coherent whole) that performs the auditory expressions of the Black Chicago community by using poetry to navigate through large archives of soundscapes. Built in Max/MSP, the synthesizer uses musical motifs developed from 26 different voices to form a playable alphabet. This system of letters provides a background music on top of which clips from the soundscapes (block parties, sharing circles, church services, etc.) are triggered as related words are typed. Ultimately, the system asks what it might look like to "play" one's community as though it were an instrument.
Process
After gathering a collection of voices and sounds from around Chicago and Minneapolis, I started to cut up the archive and began tagging the metadata with words and themes brought up in each clip. Meanwhile, I used various filters, envelopes, playback speeds, and other Max objects to turn recordings of my loved one’s voices into musical motifs. I combined the elements together and added an interface to type letters, words, lines, and poems into.
The Synthesizer @ The DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center
On April 29th, 2025, The Community Synthesizer was unveiled at the DuSable Black History Museum. The event consisted of a performance of 5 original poems written for the synthesizer and an interactive installation period.
