Rites of the Forest is an audiovisual oscilloscope work that places the listener at the center of an esoteric ritual conducted by synthesized fractal entities in a desolate temperate rainforest. This piece features fractal synthesis and signal processing techniques based on the Julia set, complex multiplications in four dimensions, and binaural rendering of ambisonic field recordings and convolution reverb from the Hoh Rainforest in Washington state (pictured above). Watch the piece below, headphones recommended for a more immersive experience.
The following videos show documentation of the work-in-progress stages that led to Rites of the Forest.
The first video is an initial proof-of-concept for the piece, including material from fractal and four-dimensional vector synthesis and signal processing techniques, convolved with ambisonic impulse responses and layered over field recordings from the Hoh Rainforest. Only one of five impulse responses from this location has been used here, so more options are available for simulating distance and direction of the synthesized sources.
The second and third videos show further development of rotations and complex multiplications in 4D, as well as aesthetic direction for the audiovisual inhabitants of the forest.
Next, a variety of forms available through the Julia set fractal processes are illustrated, along with compositional approaches to these signal transformations that could be incorporated into the piece.
Last, is an approach to spatializing synthesized geometry by mapping the waveform along each XYZW axis to the WXYZ channels of zero- and first-order ambisonics. This allows four-dimensional vector shapes to be sonified and spatialized for multichannel installations and binaural listening without projecting the sound down to two-dimensions. The video compares the binaural ambisonic mapping at the start and end to the typical XY mapping in the middle. I feel the the ambisonic approach sounds richer and more well defined on both speakers and headphones. While this technique wasn't used in Rites of the Forest, it opens up possibilities for further exploration.
