A project proposal:

-The general idea of the project is turning the pedestrian passages into a giant musical instrument, when the music played is generated by pedestrians' movement. The "instrument" consists of three main parts.

-First: a couple (about 10) of microphones attached to the passage's ceiling and directed to record a noise from certain passage's points.

-Second: a system of triggers interacting with pedestrians' movement. [examples: switches installed into the passage floor and generating binary output when stepped on, laser beams generating signal when crossed by a passer-by, electric switch installed into the shop's door and generating a signal when opened and no signal when closed and so on]

-Third: a computer collecting audio input from the microphones and digital (binary) data from the triggers. The computer sorts the digital data, and the different combinations of signals from the triggers should result in a certain ways of processing of the audio input. For example: data from the triggers can be translated into adding a certain effect on a microphone no.1, turning off microphones 2,3,and 5 and lowering the volume of microphone 4 by 50%.

-After that the output signal is amplified and translated to the passage's speakers so the people walking that actually produce the signal could hear it.

Technical notes:
- The microphones should be directed not to pick up a lot of noise around but to "hear" specific points of the passages and probably run through noise gates to avoid constant hum from distant noises.
- There should be no direct connection between certain trigger and certain audio output. That means the situation when you -for example- open the door and it directly results in activating one microphone with some effect added. The triggers' data should be first sorted by the computer and only combinations of different triggers located at the different passage's points should cause certain audio output.
- The "instrument" demands constructing a simple electronic device converting zero/phase signals from the triggers into binary data output and writing a simple computer program sorting the binary signals in combinations which should activate audio devices.
- The most difficult part of the work is to "tune" the system. It should not be a random noise but a quiet sound, a bit more loud than the street's noise. The microphone signal should not be just amplified and translated, but transformed (with different effects) into a sound having nothing similar to the input.
- The sound can be recorded, but we think that this system can better function as an installation constantly producing the sound in the passages.
- If there's a decision to keep the "instrument" as a permanent installation, there's an option to "tune" it differently every (for example) month. Different composers can be invited to "tune" the "instrument" their way and produce different type of music.


The construction needs:
- microphones
- triggers (different kinds of electric switches installed in the passages)
- data cables (audio cables for microphones and ordinary electric wires for the triggers)
- data converter (mentioned above)
- computer for sorting data
- different audio devices directed by the computer, such as effect racks, console and so on
- noise gates for the microphones
- amplifier + speakers


We see this project not as a musical creation but as an architectural act. The passages in the middle of the city transformed into a giant interactive musical instrument, and all the visitors can hear an endless improvisation that they themselves actually play. It can transform the passages into the main attraction of the city, and have a great commercial impact. Every man coming to the passage can feel the change he's making by his presence, and the importance of his involvement in the collective improvisation.