Vaishnava Janeto at Eternal Gandhi

• 2004

• Description

  I was invitation Ranjit Makkuni of Sacred World Researchto create a commissioned permanent interactive sound installation for the Eternal Gandhi Multimedia Museum at Ghandi Smriti in Delhi, the location where Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated.

  The installation is inspired by a favorite Bhajan of Gandhi's by the name of VAISHNAV JAN TO TENE KAHIYE. Due Gandhi's frequent reference to the bhajan, nearly everyone knows the song, and nearly all of them like to sing it.

  The installation is a part of a large interactive exhibit dedicated to Gandhi: Forty some installations in all, ranging from much smaller objects or displays to interactive spaces like this project. My installation is placed in a large marble stairway that leads to the exhibit. It consists of four stations equipped with microphones and multichannel sound diffusion system. Each station reacts to touch, spoken or sung voice and attempts to orchestrate, accompany and sonify the user's interactions. One station, for instance, is a virtual drum; the touch produced the sound of various percussive instruments; another station allows the user to play the Bhajan melody on sitars, sarods, guitars and other instruments. The other two stations respond to voice; when sung into they play along with the singer, generating rhythmic, melodic accompaniments. They can also accumulative record the users' participation and create chants, crowds and other varying auditory scenes.

• Acknowledgements

  Commissioned by Sacred World Research Labs