People on subways and in subway stops typically keep to themselves. They do not interact with others, seem reticent, and reserved to inward states of being. In order to make the Symphony station more conversational, we created a musical device that plays sounds sampled directly from the subway station. Sounds such as trains rumbling, breaks squealing, bells ringing, whistles, voices over the intercom, and other things that are subway occurring events were recorded.
Passenger exiting and entering the station were invited to interact with the keyboard and to write a symphony of their own utilizing the sounds of the subway for their composition. These new subway compositions blend and argue with harmony and dissonance to the natural subway sound to further engage the composer/collaborator experience within the space.
Collaboration by Andrea Zampitella, Brack Morrow, and Jess Sperandio