MONODY            

Monody
is a film that explores the harmony
between images and sound through
the lens of electronic music.

The piece draws inspiration from
the style of monody in music, where
a single melodic line is accompanied
by instrumental harmonies. Here, the
visuals take on the role of the melodic
line, while the musical score serves
as the instrumental accompaniment.

The creation of Monody began with the idea of translating the elements of electronic music into a visual format. I approached this by first developing a procedural system in Houdini that represents the elements of a synthesizer visually.

• Oscillator: I used the equations for Chladni figures, extending them with harmonics and the ability to take arbitrary coordinate spaces as input. This is similar to an oscillator in electronic music.

• Filter: To shape the visual output, I implemented methods to control the strength of these harmonics, akin to how filters are used to shape sound.

• Envelopes and LFOs: Animated circular falloffs were employed to modulate various system parameters such as the frequency of the oscillator or the strength of the harmonics, serving the role of envelopes and low-frequency oscillators (LFOs) in sound design.

• Reverb: The MOPs Spring Modifier was used to add a trailing, ethereal effect to the animation, much like a spring reverb adds depth and space to audio.

• Sequencers: Inspired by the sequencers in synthesizers, I built a system in Houdini’s CHOPs context to generate rhythmic patterns, manipulate them and apply them to different parameters across the system. All the movement in the film was derived procedurally from a single pattern and this brought a cohesive rhythm to the entire piece.


Finally, I composed a musical score that was rhythmically intertwined with the visuals, creating a unified audiovisual experience.