Jet Sound Bath No. 2

the installation with a laptop showing jet planes flying overhead

Vibrations in the Steam Plant

Jet Sound Bath No. 2

What if we could turn unwanted sounds into an immersive experience that enables a more positive relationship with the urban environment?

For an inaugural "Science Fair" event at the Georgetown Steam Plant in Seattle, Washington, Nicolas Sowers produced a sound installation that tracked planes flying overhead and turned their sounds into an immersive sound bath. A shotgun microphone pointed at the sky picked up the numerous jets on their way to SEATAC airport and also landing at the nearby Boeing field. Nicolas's custom software running on Max MSP analyzed the jet sound for dominant frequencies in the jet sound and for each passing jet, retuned a room inside the historic Steam Plant.

Nicolas loading in one of the sound cannons used in the installation

Sound resonates through the Steam Plant via transducers that are attached to parts of the building such as steel stair treads and pipes. Nicolas also installed a sound cannon in the subfloor, converting the tunnel beneath the Steam Plant into an infrasonic resonator.

transducers attached to stair treads in the installation

Source code available on Github
Location: Georgetown Steam Plant, Seattle, WA