Documentation of performance using an interactive theremin to control a mechanical sound installation consisting of amplified water drops and long piano strings vibrated by motors, solenoids, and pneumatic cylinders. Text by Jerry Hunt.

A theremin antenna made of flexible wire is mechanized so that it swings spastically as a chaotic pendulum. This causes the theremin to change pitch according to the swinging motion of the pendulum. The sound produced is multiplied by a delay system so that we hear the sound of 8 theremins at the same time. This is mixed automatically by a computer mixing program (MAX/MSP), and is then broadcast into the gallery. Also attached to the end of the antenna pendulum is an led that swings with the antenna, so that when someone enters the darkened gallery, they see an led moving in a chaotic manner that mirrors the frequency wave changes in the theremin.

First performed in 1982, this piece uses 9 sine/square wave oscillators broadcast over 3 loudspeakers that are swung in circles by 3 performers. This video was produced in 1987 and is edited to just over 7 minutes, while a live performance of the piece lasts approximately 25 minutes. For more information visit www.gordonmonahan.com

'Spontaneously Harmonious in Certain kinds of Weather' documents Monahan's 1996 installation at Singuhr-Hoergalerie in the bell tower of the Parochial Church in Berlin. With this installation, Monahan successfully constructed a long-string aeolian instalation indoors for the first time. The piece uses natural air drafts flowing up and down the staircase of the church tower to vibrate piano strings stretched along a narrow aperture built into a temporary inner room at the top of the tower. The vibrations caused by the air drafts flowing over the piano strings are amplified with contact pick ups.