See video.

Got some salt to vibrate. Yet, it does so only on the piezo. Connecting the piezo to a surface does not produce vibrations as the piezo is not strong enough.

Also, no patterns emerge as the small piezon surface area does not allow for vibrations to fully dissapate.

Making my own piezo seems the best solution, that way i can dictate the scale and, to a degree (a metal), the plate that vibrates.

In the meantime i ordered a vibration generator and will order the plates and amp ASAP.

Scouring the internet, sent off more emails to figure out if i can create a mega plate of piezo's.

Week 4

Did some initial tests.

Two critical successes;

The bioluminescent plankton light up in response to the audio vibrations and don't die.

An experience of the beginning of time is definitely feasible with what I have seen and heard so far.

Two critical problems;

The vibrations are not strong enough to cause the plankton to "defy" gravity. I give myself a week to figure out the problem or come up with a new plan, as the project is already teetering on the edge of a science demonstration.

In trying to get the plankton to defy gravity I may have blown the speaker (turns out they don't use piezoelectric crystals!!!). How does one tell if a speaker is blown when a bar is attached to it? Anyways, the audio does not sound so good, but not so bad either. Don't have time to send it back and running the amplitude at near maximum is the only way to get semi-consistent lightings.

It appears that some mysterious frequencies and/or phases play a role in how the plankton respond to the vibrations with light.

Actually, their responses are very periodic so far! Could be a part of their natural defense mechanism.

No video can be posted as the plankton are camera shy.

Week 5

Unable to get plankton to defy gravity.

The new plan, actually an old plan in part, is to have the plankton drip around a sphere about 15 feet high onto the vibrating plate. I will experiment with using the dripping sound as a live sound input that drives the vibration of the plankton; a feedback loop.

I am unable to create Cymatic patterns. Just getting the plankton to emit light from the vibrations is a challenge. Yet, there does seem to be eddies and currents forming. I am going to try a larger speaker and hopefully this will illuminate what is happening at the macroscopic level with the vibrations, but i won't get the speakers until the weekend after this one.

I found a salt water pump and will order ASAP.

Still looking for a very large heavy black curtain and support for the curtain. ahhh!

Week 6

Ordered salt water pump.

Turns out a comb filter works marvelously for creating eddy and current patterns, with the microphone near the vibrating plate, yet this kills the plankton after a minute or so of vibration.

Sounds like I have stand(s) to hold up the curtain, which i am still looking into.

I have begun the process of harvesting more plankton. Hoping to culture at least 5 liters.

Week 7

Tried contact microphones to no avail.

Tested plankton in vinyl tubing, it kills after two days.

Got larger speakers to build a larger vibration generator.

More work with SuperCollider to get drops that fall onto plate to act as a trigger to the vibrations.

Week 8

The pump is a plankton killa.

An Archimedes screw pump is the confirmed solution. I sent out emails looking for a very large screw, four feet at the very least. If I can find a clear casing for the screw it would add another dimension to the art project, as the plankton would illuminate the transportation system as they spiral up to the top of the system.

My first culture is either growing very slowly or dying very slowly.

Still programming in SuperCollider.

Began building a larger vibration generator with eight inch speakers, which equates to a square foot of vibration area instead of 7 inches.

Almost finished with new vibration generator; two feet across.

Finding a four foot screw is not working out. Will look into many screw pumps using auger drill bits...

Not sure what is going on with the culture in progress...

Built an area for training plankton to glow during the day. The peak light intensity will be between 7 & 8 pm.

Still stuck on programming in SuperCollider.

Week 9

Tested ideas for a dripping system. I am going to try a hollow spiral with holes in it to drip onto the plate. A showerhead will be the backup plan.

Ordered another liter of plankton, turns out it takes a month or two for them to culture.

Got plankton trained. Will begin training the performing plankton.

Tried spiral copper tubing as dripping system, but the water squirts out of the holes in the tube, instead of drips due to the pressure.

Josh got me on track with supercollider, but there is still a bit of programming to do to get the drips to trigger comb filters.

Built the new vibration generator.

Regarding the asignment, videos are posted to the Bela account in Groups/public/gary400. Ran out of space on me website.

Week 10

Cold welded the spiral to the faucet.

The secrets of the spiral are a little clearer.

Josh helped me again quite a bit with supercollider. Right now it's looking like i will have to adapt to the sensor's limitations. This is where almost all my time on this project is going right now.

This week has been so busy i have not made it out to the chapel yet, i plan to do so friday morning. That way it will be clear on how my set-up will integrate with the architecture.