Trommelorchester + Partitur (Drum Orchestra + Score) (2008) – Ulrich Eller

sound sculpture
8 snare drums, 8 loudspeakers, amplifier, matrix, processor, cable, steel cable, pedestal with book object, 29 drawings, each 50 × 50 cm, dimensions variable, software: Manfred Fox, production: ZKM | Karlsruhe
Ulrich Eller

Ulrich Eller

* 1953 in Leverkusen (DE), lives in Norderheistedt (DE)

The Trommelorchester has its source in the act of drawing. Ulrich Eller makes his own drawing audible by laying a sheet of paper on the skin of the snare drum. The drum shell amplifies the movements of a hard graphite pencil. This shifts the attention of the person drawing. Not only does the eye monitor the process, the ear also follows the pencil’s motions. Listening gains significance in that the activity of drawing follows what is heard, which guides the emerging lines and patterns. The audio recordings created by drawing on the drum skin are the sound sculpture’s basic acoustic material. The sounds of drawing are played back via built-in loudspeakers in the eight snare drums. The drum shells react in turn to the feedback. Ulrich Eller views his works as “a compositional game, not in the sense of pitches, chords and tempi, but as a dialogue between material, form and sound.”

www.ulricheller.de

Photo: Stills & Sounds, Kubus, Hannover 2008