On December 4th, 1970, the first large-scale brainwave musical work (and installation) of David Rosenboom called Ecology of the Skin at Automation House, New York was presented. The title was a metaphor for skin as a boundary separating individuals from their external environment and ecology of the boundary between the internal & external worlds.
For the performance of the piece, EEG monitors built by Rosenboom were attached to the heads of up to ten participants to detect alpha as well as different forms of coherent waves (smooth waves of alpha, delta, theta, beta); an electronic music system utilizing detection and analysis equipment, an ARP 2500 synthesizer, a Vox electric organ, and auxiliary devices, was used to both translate brainwave performers’ EEG activity into electronic sounds and and interact with them musically. EEG signals from participants processed through individualized electronic circuits was also used to generate visual imagery projected from an oscilloscope.
The installation included phosphene stimulation stations. Attendees could apply very low-current voltage stimulators on their temples, near the eye muscles, to stimulate visual patterns that a person normally sees when closing their eye and pressing the eyeball. The colorful bursts of geometric patterns this produces is curious, since variations can give us an impression of the functioning of an individual’s neural structure.
A lecture on Ecology of the Skin was later given at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (1971) and another performance of the piece was staged at the University of California San Diego during the same year.
For more see the NY Times article from Nov. 25th, 1970 devoted to Rosenboom:
https://www.nytimes.com/1970/11/25/archives/music-draws-strains-direct-from-brains.html
Photos are by Peter Moore.
Rosenboom (center with equipment) and four attendee/participants at Ecology of the Skin, Automation House, New York, NY. Two participants (front left) are wearing headbands securing EEG electrodes.
Rosenboom preparing equipment for Ecology of the Skin. Small boxes with circuit boards exposed are portable EEG amplifiers designed and built by Rosenboom.
Rosenboom at ARP 2500 synthesizer.
Signal flow diagram for Ecology of the Skin.
Ecology of the Skin attendee applying electrodes at a phosphene stimulation station.
Signal flow diagram for later performances in which sound sequences were triggered by synchronous EEG activity among pairs of participants. This is called “dual contingent feedback.”