“ESI Design created a modern town square with a playful interactive musical clocktower, called the Chromaphone. This public art installation turns the plaza into an active destination and its visitors into musicians. People can play with the Chromphone’s ‘Waterfall Sequencer’ or ‘Elemental Sampler’ to generate patterns of sound and color on the iconic digital clocktower. Every hour a chime broadcasts the plaza’s energy to the neighborhood.”

-ESI Design

I developed an audio sampler/sequencer with max/msp for a large public audio and video instrument located in the courtyard at 101 North Brand Blvd in Glendale CA. People are greeted by an approach sound as they step onto a platform with 5 color-changing columns that invite you to touch them.  

In Elemental Sampler mode, touching a column triggers a sound and an animation on the 2-story LED display. In Waterfall Sequencer mode, touching a column places or removes virtual “stones” that represents notes to be triggered as part of a sequence. 

The Governor slowly mixes the audio into reverb, turns the volume down, and blurs the animations when the system is in Elemental Sampler mode and users get overzealous with their interaction. This gives users an additional level to experience and eventually causes the the system to briefly timeout, which helps keep the installation from becoming overstimulating.

This installation also serves as a clocktower that keeps time and chimes at the top of the hour.