Jamming wi h Plane Ea h
Tae Hong Pa k∗
Depa men o Music
Pu due Uni e si y
Wes La aye e, IN 47907
[email p o ec ed]
Abs ac
This pape in oduces he piece "Gamyeon III" (2023) and Ci yg am, a sound senso
ne wo k sys em o cap u ing and isualizing sound, wi h applica ions in music
c ea ion and pe o mance. Buil on a Node.js se e and b owse -based senso
nodes, Ci yg am enables he deploymen o sound senso s using s anda d web
b owse s and edge compu ing. The senso nodes cap u e loca i e audio and pe o m
p ocessing a he sou ce; high-le el, low-bandwid h da a is hen pushed o a cen al
se e . This soundscape da a is accessed ia he Ci yg am pulle , a b owse -based
in e ace ha , h ough he Ci yg am b idge so wa e, b oadcas s OSC messages on
a local compu e . This sys em is u ilized in li e pe o mances, including Gamyeon
III, whe e Supe Collide III dynamically d i es a i icial soundscapes, explo ing
he ans o ma ion o public en i onmen al sound in o musical o m.
1 In oduc ion
Launched in 2011 Pa k e al. (2012), Ci yg am is a eal- ime sound-mapping sys em ha employs
a ne wo k o dis ibu ed sound-sensing nodes o cap u e and isualize en i onmen al noise. By
c owdsou cing acous ic da a h ough s a egically placed mic ophones, Ci yg am eco ds sound
le els, ex ac s salien equency- and ime-domain ea u e ec o s, and classi ies sound sou ces. This
da a is used o gene a e in e ac i e sound maps ha de ail he sonic p o ile o u ban soundscapes
(Pa k e al., 2016). Ci yg am has been u ilized o s udy noise pollu ion (Pa k and Yoo, 2018) and
i s impac s on public heal h, in o m u ban planning, and con ibu e o acous ic ecology esea ch.
The p ojec has acili a ed con e sa ions on soundscapes, en i onmen al awa eness, and has inspi ed
a is ic in e p e a ions o u ban noise. The p ojec also led o he o ma ion o Ge Noisy LLC
(
h ps://ge noisy.io
), a s a up ocused on high- esolu ion noise acking, including a sys em
ha uses AI o moni o ai plane noise wi h one-second empo al esolu ion. In he ealm o da a-
d i en a , Ci yg am has p o en aluable as a c ea i e ool o gene a i e audio isual composi ion
and pe o mance, as explo ed in he ollowing sec ions.
2 Soundmapping Ou Wo ld in 3D
Ci yg am has been de eloped by emb acing he concep o Soundmapping Ou Wo ld in 3D: da a-
D i en | communi y-D i en | a -D i en app oach o cap u ing, analyzing, and isualizing en i on-
men al soundscapes. By le e aging edge compu ing pa adigms (Pa k and Yoo, 2017), eal- ime da a
collec ion, and AI-d i en analysis, his me hod p o ides a geospa ial ep esen a ion o sound in u ban
and na u al en i onmen s. The i s D, he da a-D i en module, ocuses on he echnological side
o he p ojec , ea ing i as a Big Da a ini ia i e. The second D, he communi y-D i en module,
emphasizes public engagemen , c owdsou cing sound da a o scale he senso ne wo k, simila o
how YouTube con en is c ea ed by he public. Finally, he hi d D, he a -D i en module, aims o
aise awa eness o he esea ch—pa icula ly noise pollu ion—while os e ing c ea i e in e p e a ions
∗
Use oo no e o p o iding u he in o ma ion abou au ho (webpage, al e na i e add ess)—no o
acknowledging unding agencies.
P oceedings o he 6 h Con e ence on AI Music C ea i i y (AIMC 2025),
B ussels, Belgium, Sep embe 10 h-12 h
Figu e 1: O e iew o Ci yg am sys em.
Figu e 2: Ci yg am b idge piping soundscape da a ia OSC o supe collide
o soundscapes h ough imme si e audio isual expe iences, in e ac i e ins alla ions, and pe o -
mances. This usion o scien i ic esea ch, public pa icipa ion, and a is ic exp ession ans o ms
en i onmen al sound in o bo h a esea ch ool and a medium o c ea i e explo a ion.
2.1 Sys em O e iew
The Ci yg am a chi ec u e, shown in Figu e 1, illus a es a ious ypes o compu ing de ices on he
le -hand side ha unc ion as sound senso s unning on con en ional web b owse s. These include
sma phones, able s, phable s, no ebooks, and desk op compu e s equipped wi h mic ophones,
including ou cus om s icke mic ophones (Pa k e al., 2017). Toge he , hese de ices o m an edge-
compu e sound senso ne wo k, whe e au oma ic sound e en de ec ion, classi ica ion, and signal
p ocessing occu locally. The esul ing ou pu - including low-le el ea u e ec o s, classi ica ion
esul s (used in he Ge Noisy sys em), and o he me ada a - is s eamed o he cen al se e a
one-second esolu ion. A chi ed da a can hen be accessed ia he Ci yg am pulle , as shown on he
igh side o Figu e 1. On he ecei ing compu e , he high-le el da a is used o d i e a soundscape
syn hesize buil on he Supe Collide III pla o m. The Ci yg am b idge acili a es eal- ime da a
ans e om he b owse o Supe Collide using Open Sound Con ol (OSC) message p o ocols,
enabling in e ac i e sonic engagemen be ween he clien de ice and he syn hesized soundscape.
The ea u e ec o -d i en soundscape syn hesize , which gene a es wha we call a sinescape laye , is
jux aposed wi h a li e human pe o ma i e laye , as demons a ed in he piece Gamyeon III (2022)
o cello, piano, elec ic bass, compu e , and soundscape da a. This app oach in i es pe o me s o
engage wi h en i onmen al sound da a—cap u ed and s eamed in eal ime o he clien compu e —as
a dynamic musical pa ne . By es ablishing a connec ion be ween li e pe o mance and sensed
soundscapes om emo e loca ions, his me hod enables a luid in e play be ween musicians and
dis an sonic en i onmen s—wha we call "Jamming wi h Plane Ea h."
3 P oposed Wo k and Pe o mance: Gamyeon III
The p oposed piece, Gamyeon III (2022), is composed o cello, piano, elec ic bass, and compu e .
The e sion included wi h his p oposal ea u es an in oduc o y segmen called Pi, based on he
numbe
π
. The Ci yg am sound senso ne wo k sys em, he soundscape da a pulle , and he OSC
2
Figu e 3: Ap il 33 pe o ming Gamyeon III
b idge a e used o d i e he soni ica ion engine in Supe Collide III. This soni ica ion laye o ms
a syn he ic soundscape we call “sinescape,” akin o how na u al soundscapes o en become he
backg ound laye in en i onmen s whe e backg ound, middleg ound, and o eg ound comp ise a
dynamic whole. In Gamyeon III, he pe o med po ions ypically occupy he middle and o eg ound
laye s, e ec i ely masking he “sinescape.” As he pe o med ma e ial quie s, he “sinescape” is
unmasked, allowing i o eme ge in o pe cep ual p ominence. One o he key ideas explo ed in
Gamyeon III is he concep o masking - Gamyeon in Ko ean means “mask” - a p inciple ha also
unde pins MP3 codecs. The wo k was composed du ing he COVID-19 lockdown while he compose
was li ing in New Yo k Ci y. One day, an unusual silence descended upon he ci y, and e e y hing
came o a hal . Wi h he ci y unplugged, sounds p e iously masked by he elen less cacophony o
machines began o eme ge, becoming i idly audible.
Gamyeon III a emp s o cap u e he symphonic cacophony o NYC - o en called “ he ci y ha ne e
sleeps” - whe e si ens, au omobiles, s ee music, and machines esona e h oughou he ci y 24/7. A
he same ime, i explo es he nega i e space o noise pollu ion: hose unmasked sounds ha su aced
and came o he o e when he mechanical hum o he ci y was silenced du ing he pandemic.
The p oposed piece will be pe o med by he newly o med io (((Ap il 33))), ea u ing he enowned
Ma ia Ahn and Lucia Ahn o he Ahn T io, along wi h compose and elec ic bassis Tae Hong
Pa k. A ideo o he pe o mance om summe 2023 in Seoul, Sou h Ko ea, can be ound a he
ollowing link:
h ps://you u.be/7BdBKuoqqiQ
. The name (((Ap il 33))) i sel was inspi ed
by John Cage’s piece 4’33", amously known as he "silence piece," which p emie ed as a piano
solo wi h 4 minu es and 33 seconds o silence. In ou case, he cen al hemes e ol e a ound he
explo a ion o spaces, places, and hei sonic aces, wi h a pa icula ocus on en i onmen al noise
pollu ion.
4 Summa y and no e on echnical p oduc ion
In his pape , we b ie ly desc ibe he Ci yg am sound senso ne wo k sys em and ou p oposed wo k
Gamyeon III using i s da a pulle module. The echnical equi emen s o his piece a e simple: wo
mic ophones o he acous ic piano, one mic ophone o he cello, and a s e eo sound ein o cemen
sys em. The elec ic bass is ou ed di ec ly in o he compu e . Addi ionally, Wi-Fi o E he ne is
needed o s eam salien acous ic ea u e ec o da a, which d i es he a i icial soundscape gene a o
in Supe Collide III.
Re e ences
Pa k, T. H., Mille , B., Sh es ha, A., Lee, S., Tu ne , J., and Ma se, A. (2012). Ci yg am one:
Visualizing u ban acous ic ecology. In DH, pages 313–317.
Pa k, T. H., Shamoon, C., and Yoo, M.-J. (2016). A s ep close owa ds eal- ime cap u e o u ban
soundscapes and noise pollu ion. In INTER-NOISE and NOISE-CON Cong ess and Con e ence
P oceedings, olume 252, pages 914–923. Ins i u e o Noise Con ol Enginee ing.
Pa k, T. H. and Yoo, M. (2017). P ac icable soundmapping: Ja asc ip enabled edge compu e.
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Pa k, T. H. and Yoo, M. (2018). Ci yg am one: Se en yea s la e . In 2018 In e na ional Compu e
Music Con e ence, ICMC 2018, pages 164–168. In e na ional Compu e Music Associa ion.
Pa k, T. H., Yoo, M., Dye, C., You, J., Bu anin u, V., Rekesh, D., and Leona d, I. (2017). U -
ban soundmapping a he edge. In INTER-NOISE and NOISE-CON Cong ess and Con e ence
P oceedings, olume 255, pages 5389–5400. Ins i u e o Noise Con ol Enginee ing.
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