Earth:Quake
“Volcanoes erupting when the earth is feeling pain”
Earth:Quake was a multilayered project conceptualized and performed by SAMPLE electroacoustic ensemble. What originally started as a single lyrical line led to a multidisciplinary event that combined, music, art, data science, geology, and computer science.
The inception of the idea was a phrase: “Volcanoes erupt when the earth is feeling pain”.
Inspired by the tragedies of the Sudanese conflict, we decided to combine ecology and social unrest in a piece that utilizes nature to create it’s driving unique timbre. In partnership with the Mt. St. Helens USGS site and PSU’s School of Earth, Environment, and Society, we collected several years of seismic data of the local Cascade Mountain region. With a private data processing model provided by a computer science researcher, Reese Bowes, we sanitized the seismic data into an easily usable format. This data was used to control separate synthesizers, MaxMSP patches, and TouchDesigner patches through local networking. The piece follows a slightly modified sonata form. This form was chosen due to a general trend seen in the seismic data.
Originally premiered in 2022 at Portland State’s festival, ReWire.
Performed by:
Nickalus Lindale - Synth, Piano, Antepiano
Jessy Mina - Guitar, Synth
Usif Idriss - Lead Vocals
Gethin Myers - Synth
Engraver Arnold - Synth, Backing Vocals