Eirik Brandal's Várhafsóll Is a Musical Circuit Sculpture Inspired by Scandinavian Cow-Herding Songs
Generating new music every time it's switched on, this wall-mounted art piece is powered by Espressif's ESP32-S2-Saola.
Eirik Brandal, creator of electronic sculptures, has designed a wall-mounted piece which blends sound and light under the control of an Espressif ESP32 microcontroller and a fistful of discrete components: várhafsóll.
"I have made a musical scale out of something approximately similar to the intonation used in traditional Scandinavian cow herding songs, aka 'kulokk' in Norwegian, or 'kulning' in Swedish," Brandal explains of the music generated on várhafsóll.
"These songs are generally simple melodies loaded with blue notes and are quite lyrical in nature, so the similarities between my square wave bleeps and the cow herding songs end there. As in previous projects, I’m again using randomized repeating sequencers to progress the music, which results in new 'compositions' each time the sculpture is switched on."
While the sculpture is built around an Espressif ESP32-S2-Saola development board, though, Brandal says it's "relegated to oscillator duties for the most part" due to a desire to increase the visual interest of the sculpture by incorporating a range of discrete components: multiplexers, a Princeton Technology PT2399 delay chip, and the Diodes Incorporated PAM8403 amplifier in a 3D-printed mount.
"While most of what is going on here technically could be done by the ESP32 alone," Brandal explains, "the construction technique and general aesthetic benefits from decentralizing certain tasks, such as multiplexing data signals and creating envelopes for the LEDs."
Those construction techniques will be familiar to aficionados of circuit sculpting. Rather than using a fixed PCB or flying leads, várhafsóll's components are connected using rigid enameled wires — serving as both circuit traces and structure. Elsewhere on the black acrylic backing board are 3D-printed components, including a speaker enclosure, golden mirrors, and "candy-looking red LEDs" in cubic diffusers.
More information on the project is available on Brandal's website.