Sound of Symbols

Using a 16mm optical audio reader and an oscilloscope, this experimental short translates the geometry of everyday symbols into their characteristic sounds, creating visual music from the shapes that surround us.

Though the oscilloscope was invented as a way to visualize electrical and audio signals, there is a long history of artists using it to make art. This project was my excuse to finally buy a used scope and learn how to make images with it. To make the oscilloscope images and sounds, I used a piece of software, which when given an image or text will generate a sound which will produce that image on an oscilloscope. The sounds are very synth-like and electronic, which worked well as a counterpoint to the rumbly lo-fi sounds that come out of the 16mm projector.