Bottle Tones & Minus The Bear at Sonos Studio

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Sonos Studio had the band Minus The Bear perform a full set at the opening reception for “Bottle Tones.” The exhibit is an interactive affair, in which participants are asked to push on pumps that send air to the lips of glass bottles, some of which date back to the 1800s. However, since the artists Luke Rothschild and Bennett Barbakow put contact microphones on each glass canister and amplify the results via Sonos speakers they are able to manipulate the audio in unique ways. Instead of the typical low-swelling foghorn sound you experience when you whistle into an empty coke bottle, you hear deep bass rumbles emanating from a sub woofer and various pitch modulations. Minus The Bear’s indie-prog sound seemed to be a perfect match to the artwork, since like the sculptures, their melodies could appear simple at times, but upon closer inspection are in strange time signatures and require complex mechanics. I highly recommend you go with a friend to check out “Bottle Tones” so you can hear the work the way it was intended, where at least two people can play various notes in the room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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