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ANCIENT BARBITON INSTRUMENT PLAYED FOR FIRST TIME IN TWO THOUSAND
YEARS AT GÉANT LAUNCH EVENT
Lost Sounds Orchestra deliver composition based on resurrected “double bass”
14th December 2009, Cambridge, UK: The sound of the Barbiton, an ancient Greek
instrument similar to the double bass, has been heard for the first time in 2,000 years, due to
the power of research networking.
Recreated by the ASTRA (Ancient instruments Sound/Timbre Reconstruction Application)
project, using computer modelling technology and the high-bandwidth pan-European GÉANT
and EUMEDCONNECT networks, the Barbiton took part in a unique inter-continental concert
earlier this month as part of the GÉANT Launch Event in Stockholm, Sweden. It was joined by
another ancient Greek musical instrument, the harp-like Epigonion which was first heard
again in 2008.
Accompanied by percussion, the instruments were played by the Lost Sounds Orchestra,
following melodies from a musical score written by Dr Domenico Vicinanza of DANTE, the
organisation that operates the GÉANT and TEIN3 networks. The background music
underpinning the melodies was based upon network traffic flows in the GÉANT and AsiaPacific TEIN3 networks, converted into sound through a “data sonification” process developed
by Dr Vicinanza, which converts seismic data into sound-waves,.
The music was sent 9,300 km from the venue in Stockholm across the GÉANT and TEIN3
research networks to provide music for dancers from the Arts Exchange of Asia, allowing
them to perform to the music at a simultaneous event in Kuala Lumpur, the ASEM (ASIAEurope Meeting) workshop Gala Dinner. A recording of the performance is available at
http://www.geant.net/EVENTS/LAUNCHEVENT/Pages/CulturalPerformance.aspx
“Being able to hear the sound of the Barbiton, lost for many centuries, is a major step forward
in our understanding and makes the past real for researchers and academics,” commented Dr
Vicinanza. "The sound-waves generated by the network have an incredible power and
intrinsic richness. It was a fascinating challenge to write this piece of music for a dance
performance based on the data the network engineers use every day. The sound of
percussions and the warm notes of the Barbiton worked perfectly with the background melody
from the GÉANT and TEIN3 networks. The fact that we were providing music for a live dance
performance on another continent only added to the challenge and the impact.”
The Barbiton is a heavy, multi-stringed instrument popular in ancient Greece. Producing a
sound similar to a double bass, it was described in many poems and paintings of the time,
and is known to have been played by the poets Alcaeus and Sappho. The ASTRA project
used archaeological data as an input and then transformed it by a complex digital audio
rendering technique to model the actual sound of the instrument. This advanced physical
modelling synthesis creates a virtual model and visualisation of the instrument and
reproduces the sound that it might have made by simulating its behaviour as a mechanical
system.
ASTRA’s computer modelling procedure demands enormous computing power. To achieve
this it uses the advanced GÉANT and EUMEDCONNECT research networks to link high
capacity computers together, sharing information across grid computing infrastructures to
enable the computer-intensive modelling of musical sounds.
The Lost Sounds Orchestra performing at the GÉANT Launch Event in Stockholm, 1-2
December.
About DANTE
DANTE is a non-profit organisation, coordinator of large-scale projects co-funded by the
European Commission, and working in partnership with European National Research and
Education Networks (NRENs) to plan, build and operate advanced networks for research and
education. Established in 1993, DANTE has been fundamental to the success of panEuropean research and education networking. DANTE has built and operates GÉANT, which
provides the data communications infrastructure essential to the success of many research
projects in Europe. DANTE is involved in worldwide initiatives to interconnect countries in the
other regions to one another and to GÉANT. DANTE currently manages projects focussed on
the Mediterranean, Asia-Pacific and central Asia regions through the EUMEDCONNECT,
TEIN and CAREN projects respectively. For more information, visit www.dante.net.
About GÉANT
GÉANT is the high speed European communication network dedicated to research and
education. In combination with its NREN partners, GÉANT creates a secure, high speed
research infrastructure that serves 40 million researchers in over 8,000 institutions across 40
European countries. Operating at speeds of up to 10 Gbps, GÉANT is the world’s largest and
most advanced multi-gigabit network dedicated to research and education. Building on the
success of its predecessors, GÉANT has been created around the needs of users, providing
flexible, end to end services that transform the way that researchers collaborate. GÉANT is
at the heart of global research networking through wide ranging connections with other world
regions, underpinning vital projects that bridge the digital divide and benefit society as a
whole.
Co-funded by the European Commission under the EU’s 7th Research and Development
Framework Programme, GÉANT is the e-Infrastructure at the heart of the EU’s European
Research Area and contributes to the development of emerging internet technologies. The
project partners are 32 European National Research and Education Networks (NRENs),
TERENA and DANTE. GÉANT is operated by DANTE on behalf of Europe’s NRENs. For
more information, visit www.geant.net
About ASTRA
The ASTRA projects aims to reconstruct the sound or timbre of ancient instruments using
archaeological data as fragments from excavations, written descriptions and pictures. The
technique uses is the physical modelling synthesis, a complex digital audio rendering
technique which allows modelling the time-domain physics of the instrument. Sound is then
generated using parameters that describe the physical materials used in the instrument and
the user's interaction with it. For more information, visit http://www.astraproject.org/
Contact:
Paul Maurice
DANTE
+44 (0)1223 371 300
[email protected]
Chris Measures/Matt Watson
Speed Communications (on behalf of DANTE)
+44(0)20 7842 3200
[email protected]