nicholas latkovic

“Alert” mode at 0:03. “Attack” mode at 1:54.

The Federal Thunderbolt was the siren of choice by many Civil Defense authorities and emergency management agencies from the early 1950s through the late 1970s.

The main marketing point of the Thunderbolt by Federal Signal was the fact that the siren, since it uses a blower to move air through the siren rotor, maintains a high sound output at all siren pitches when the siren is in operation. Normally aspirated sirens lose sound output because of the reduced air flow through their rotors as the siren runs down during the coast down during the wail or attack signal.

-Wikipedia

Adaptation. Dir. Spike Jonze. Pro. Jonathan Demme, Vincent Landay, Edward Saxon. Perf. Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper. Columbia Pictures, 2002.

Beethoven, Ludwig van. “Symphony No. 3 in E flat major (Eroica)”. 1804.

Radios

Buick Radios are completely transistorized and are engineered by Buick Autombiles’ acoustics. The Sonomatic Radio furnishes the highest fidelity possible and permits loud and clear reception while enjoying road speed driving with windows open. The Buick AM-FM Radio is equipped with Automatic Frequency control which “locks in” the FM stain you have selected. The AM-FM Stereo Radio available for the LeSabre, Wildcat, Electra and Riviera provides the same incomparable Stereophonic Sound you have heard in your home or in the theatre.

Tone Reverberator

This new dimension in musical reproduction will excite and enthuse the most casual listener and provide the ultimate listening pleasure to the music lover. The Tone Reverberator produces a concert hall effect by electronic means. A portion of the sound is heard directly from the front speaker. Another portion is routed through the Reverberator, where it is delayed, reverberated and amplified through the Rear Seat Speaker. Available for all models except Special and Skylark Convertibles.

Rear Seat Speaker

“Stereo-like” quality is offered for the listening pleasure of all passengers with this auxiliary speaker, which is installed on the rear shelf. It operates with, or independently of, the regular front speaker and is controlled by the driver. Available for all models except Special and Skylark Convertibles.

Buick: Engineered Approved Accessories for 1966. Second Edition 1377749. General Motors, 1966.

Featured music:

Mauriat, Paul. “Love Is Blue”. Love Is Blue. Philips, 1968.

Composed by Pino Donaggio.

Carrie. Dir. Brian De Palma. Wri. Lawrence D. Cohen. Perf. Sissy Spacek, Amy Irving, William Katt, Nancy Allen, John Travolta, Betty Buckley, P.J. Soles, Piper Laurie. United Artists, 1976.

“I was born deaf and eight weeks ago I received a hearing implant. This is the video of them turning it on and me hearing myself for the first time.” -Sarah Churman

September 11, 2001: In a scenario reminiscent of R.M.S. Titantic’s final hours, easy-listening music continues to be piped throughout the World Trade Center’s outdoor plaza [2:56] despite the surrounding chaos, creating an awkward juxtaposition of the everyday with the surreal.

“She’s Always a Woman”. Written by Billy Joel.

“How Deep Is Your Love”. Written by Barry Gibb.

Maxell, 1982.

Featured music:

Mussorgsky, Modest. “Night on Bald Mountain”. 1886.

Concept: Morihiro Harano
Instrument design: Kenjiro Matsuo

Featured music:

Bach, Johann Sebastian. “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring”. Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147. Weimar, 1716.

“It’s Wide Open”. Dir. Spike Jonze (Adam Spiegel). United States: Levi’s, 1997.

Featured music:

Davis, Miles. “So What”. Kind of Blue. Columbia Records, 1959.

The Commodore VIC-1525 is a 9-pin dot matrix impact printer which uses inked ribbon cartridges and tractor feed paper. This printer was the second “official” printer for the VIC-20 computer, after the VIC-1515 Graphic Printer. The VIC-1525 operates on the Commodore Serial bus and is capable of printing upper & lower case letters and the special PETSCII graphic characters used by the VIC-20.

“Sing For Your Supper”. Music by Richard Rodgers. Lyrics by Lorenz Hart.

“Rodgers & Hart Today”. ABC Stage 67. ABC, Los Angeles. 2 Mar. 1967.

I love the sound of breaking glass
Deep into the night
l love the sound of its condition
Flying all around
Oh, all around, sound of breaking glass

Lowe, Nick. “I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass”. Jesus of Cool. Radar Records, 1978.

Paul Schenly performs Francis Poulenc’s (1899-1963) piece.

How does one show what sound sounds like? Many posters and album covers are executed with colors and typefaces we’ve attributed to a particular genre over the years. At what point did we decide the color blue sounds like Jazz? And when did we agree Blackletter sounds like Metal?

When these approaches are favored over and over again by audiences, we end up with a “standard” because studies show it worked well and continues to work well. The audience approves and — assumingly — will always approve.

However, should we always work to achieve approval, experimentation is lost and we miss the greatest end-product: an original idea. And for that there is no measurable equivalent.

I remember seeing Josef Müller-Brockmann’s 1955 poster for a Beethoven concert, and being enthralled by an attraction to the circular forms — grinding and gliding against one another. Brockmann had managed to capture the essence not of Beethoven’s music, but of something more important — of sound itself. No end, no beginning, but ongoing.

For me, his circular, abstracted forms evoke the feeling of owning a seat in a large concert hall, complete with second and third balconies. What row, what seat? It all depends how you see that center circle. Are you staring down at the stage, or looking up past the balconies to that domed ceiling?

Mirroring the spiral-experience of the Guggenheim, the piece is an experiment in perceptions of space — which is required by natural law to hear sound. Alter the space, and the sound is altered. Brockmann’s construction of this space is so successful, all that’s needed is “beethoven” in conservative Helvetica and the grandeur of a hundred strings flows through the poster and hits our ears with the emotional force Beethoven himself intended 200 years ago.

2 Unlimited. “No Limit”. No Limits. PWL, 1993.