Dataphonics

dataphonics by Ryoji Ikeda is a musical project based on the relationships between the sound of primary digital data (sound of data) and the elementary components of sound (data of sound). The work focuses on the system of sound frequencies at the threshold of audibility, a phenomenon of which “the listener, Ikeda explains, only becomes aware at the moment of their disappearance.” dataphonics is also a tribute to Pierre Schaeffer, pioneer of musique concrète, and to his Solfège de l’objet sonore.
The work was broadcast monthly throughout a whole season as part of the Atelier de création radiophonique on France Culture, before being remixed and presented as a single piece, like an ultimate, combinatorial gesture at the heart of the sonic digital.
Including in this research a mathematical and graphic examination of the most fundamental sounds, Ikeda extended his artist’s gesture by materialising these “pure digital data” through images in this book/CD, which unfolds, explores and questions ten fundamental sound parameters that make up the substance of sound/music.

Ryoji Ikeda: Japanese composer/artist (born 1966), a key figure in electronic music and art, devoted to the physical properties of sound, particularly the ultrasonic and frequencies, using the most advanced technologies, which allow him to work on the tiniest elements. His work exploits these properties of sound, their influence on human perception and their relationship with mathematics. Since 1995 he has been at the forefront of the sound art scene with concerts, installations and recordings: the albums +/- (1996), 0 degrees (1998) and Matrix (2001) were acclaimed by critics for their innovative and radical character. He has notably collaborated with the choreographer William Forsythe/Frankfurt Ballet, the photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto, the architect Toyo Ito, the electronic music artist Carsten Nicolai on a project combining art and science, and the multidisciplinary collective Dumb Type.
Ryoji Ikeda received the Golden Nica prize at the Ars Electronica festival in 2001, in the digital music category.