Luc Döbereiner

In 1927, Dutch physicists and radio engineers Balthasar van der Pol and Johannes van der Mark observed a strange audible phenomenon while experimenting with coupled electrical systems: "An irregular noise is heard in telephone receivers before the frequency jumps to the next lower value, strongly resembling the melodies of bagpipes." We now know that this auditory event was the first experimental observation of deterministic chaos. The oscillator described by the scientists not only exhibits chaotic behavior, but can also adapt to external input and cause the synchronization of coupled processes. Since then, it has been applied in numerous fields, including modeling the heartbeat and vocal multiphonics. In OSC, the organ is understood as an oscillator coupled to four digital van der Pol oscillators. The five sound sources influence, direct, and excite each other, creating a spatial, immersive feedback system. The piece seeks to make perceptible the fundamental dynamics of coupled oscillation that constitute sound, our bodies, our minds, and our physical world.