Traveling exhibition version

Voice – the exhibition A traveling exhibition involving

art, science and technology.

• based primarily on listening games and hands-on

experiments

• a modular 250/300 sq.m format

• 3 main themes – Voice and body

– Voice and expression

– Voice and interpretation

Body and voice The four-larynx choir Hands-on experiment + audiovisual

In front of the visitor are the casts of four faces and when the lid of the box is lifted up it sets off the four part choir video which shows four vocal tracts in the act of singing. Visitors are asked to match the sonograms (voiceprints) with the captions.

Vocal tract puzzle Hands-on experiment

The visitor finds himself in front of a vertical magnetic puzzle made up of 11 anatomical parts required to produce the voice. He must correctly place the main organs involved in phonation.

Exploration of the vocal tract and the larynx Audiovisual - Archives

The visitor can watch a movie that shows scientific images of an examination of the vocal organs.

Transforming one’s voice Hands-on experiment + sound

Visitors can record their own voice and play with it by transforming it. - A push-button allows changing the gender of the voice : more feminine to more masculine - A push- button allows changing the age of the voice : older to younger

Transforming actors’ voices Multimedia

Making use of two large push-buttons, the visitor can modify 3 or 4 previously recorded voices of famous actors. - Push-button 1 allows changing the gender of the famous voice : more feminine to more masculine - Push-button 2 allows changing the age of the famous voice : older to younger

Voices transformation Ircam - Audiovisual media

The setup here is an audiovisual terminal equipped with headphones. The film shown at this point is part of a series of 3 films located near IRCAM’s multimedia installation.

The phonetogram Multimedia

Making use of the phonetogram, the visitor is asked to map out the boundaries of his «vocal space». Thus he can perceive his voice dynamics and vocal range (intensity in decibels and frequency in hertz). In order to test his speaking voice, he has to read a short text. To test his singing voice, he has to mimic the sound of a siren (ascending and descending) and also hum « Happy Birthday » or other tunes.

The sonagram + And you, what your voice sounds like? Multimedia

The visitor can identify the intensity and frequency of his voice. This item is accompanied by a game where a visitor has to qualify his own voice, while his partner should qualify the voice of his friend.

Accents and regions Hands-on experiment + sound

The setup here is a geography sound map covering the diversity of regional accents: the visitor listens to accents and then he is asked to find the name of the corresponding region on the map. The answer is revealed after he chooses: the name of the region lights up and an audio commentary points out the hints that characterize this accent.

Tongue twisters using domino-like game pieces Hands-on experiment

The objective of this game is for the visitor to read the tongue twisters out loud and tonelessly in order to trick his opponent, who must try to determine the meaning. This setup requires two face-to-face stations and a timer.

Voice and Identity Audiovisual media

The voice is not only our preferred means of communication but also a central part of our identity and now IRCAM and others labs have tools to transform completely the voice identity. What would be the ethical implications of these technologies ?

Expression and voice

Songs from around the world Audiovisual equipment

Visitors can listen to and watch video clips presenting the diversity of vocal techniques throughout the world (Albanian drone, Georgian drone, flamenco, Inuit songs, Syrian songs, Taiwanese call-and-response songs, imitation of a musical instrument (Solomon Islands), polyphony, Central African lullabies, Tibetan monks’ chants, Mongolian throat singing, African and Swiss yodeling, etc.).

Recognizing emotions in the voice Hands-on experiment

Two visitors are partnered and take turns playing. Each one is in a booth, separated by a partition, thus they cannot see their partner’s facial expressions. The first player is asked to read a short text using different emotions: joy, sadness, anger, disgust, surprise, fear – these are the six primary emotions.

Putting words in somebody’s mouth Multimedia developed by Voxygen

The goal here is to reproduce the voice of a visitor based on recordings of him. The visitor will have to read a short text in karaoke mode. Based on this recording he will then hear his voice saying sentences he never uttered.

Virtual choir Ircam - Audiovisual media

Here the visitor has to choose a melody and a type of harmonization (major or minor chord, etc.). He can also modify the characteristics of the choir : the number and gender of the choir singers (maximum 10 singers) and 4 different echo chambers: cathedral, concert hall... He is then asked to sing and to record his voice.

Great voices Audiovisual show

A superb 15 minute montage film, using archival images, presents a selection of great voices (opera, jazz, blues, pop, rock, easy listening, rap, slam, reggae) from the 1950s to today. The film is punctuated by highlights of performers talking about their own voices or comments of experts on the vocal characteristics of certain singers.

Art and voice

Singing voice synthesis and transformation Ircam - Audiovisual media

This exhibit provides additional information of Ircam research on synthesis and transformation of the voice when singing, leading to several remarkable creations. This setup is an audiovisual terminal equipped with headphones.

Quiz of well-known voices Multimedia

The team quiz here is a combination of game show and fairgrounds. It consists of fifty questions in two separate rounds that allows visitors to compete against each other while having fun and discovering new voices.

• Available for hire as of Fall 2014 (for sales conditions, please contact us) • Available in French, English and Italian (trilingual exhibition – for

additional languages, contact us)

• 18 exhibits over 250/300 sq.m: 6 hands-on exhibits ; 7 audiovisuals; 5 multimedia games

contactpro@universcience.fr +33 1 40 05 82 46

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The Voice