Review of DIALTONES: A TELESYMPHONY

I found DIALTONES: A TELESYMPHONY brilliant. Creative and inventive, this complicated acoustic production was performed entirely from the pre-programmed sounds of 200 wireless mobile telephones. The unique approach and completely original composition by Golan Levin and Scott Gibbons was first presented in 2001 in Lintz, Austria at the TAKEOVER: the 2001 Ars Electronica Festival and again at the Arteplage Mobile de Jura in 2002.

The Dialtones project was both organizationally and technologically complex. Levin, Gibbons and co-creator Gregory Shakers, along with a handful of others, combined the phone sounds we hear in our daily modern life to expose the “overlooked” potential for a new artistic venue. Intent on illustrating the “hype, hate and hypnosis surrounding the mobile phone” this team set out to expose us to “what we might learn about our interconnected selves, in their high, pure tones” (Dialtones: A Telesymphony).

Achieving their goal required careful preparation. Audience cell phone numbers had to be registered at Web kiosks prior to the concert. New dialing and ringtone sounds were assigned and uploaded to participants’ phones after registration. Corresponding seat assignment tickets were then issued before entry into the concert hall. Levin, after obtaining his Master's degree from the MIT Media Lab, wrote the software which allowed a live troupe of musicians access to the 200 phones, up to 60 phones at once (Rullman). The visual-musical software instrument which activated audience phone tones choreographed both the sound tones and lighting effects. There were two sets of lighting effects; overhead spotlights that highlighted the activated cell phone participant and streaming, computer-generated screen graphics on stage to further entertain and stimulate the audience. According to the artists’ statement, the creation “affords a diverse range of unprecedented sonic phenomena and musically interesting structures”.

I feel the artistic success of Dialtones resulted from the clear intent (and collaboration) of the team. They were deliberately using sounds we often find distracting and irritating to enlighten us to greater possibilities. To me, that is what art is about. By staying within the actual limitations of the basic sound range and duration of mobile phone devices, they unlocked a deeper appreciation for the music of the ‘phone-as-instrument’ in me. The accidental coughs and unplanned audience reactions remind us that this was still interactive art and human involvement was part of the performance of the highly electronic presentation.

If you want to see the entire concert it is available at several websites (Dialtones : A Telesymphony). There are a few sample snippets here and there on YouTube (youTube.com)

I watched the available samples with my eyes open and then with my eyes closed. The two approaches felt very different but both felt complete and relaxing, almost comforting. A very pleasant experience, the only possible criticism I have about Dialtones is that it was too relaxing, too hypnotic. It dazed me. Some elements of drama were missing. This may have been due to the limitations of the actual 'phone-as-instrument' device. Reviewing the actual thoughtfulness and complete focus of the Dialtones: A Telesymphony project team, that was probably their desired effect.


Dialtones: A Telesymphony , available at www.flong.com/storage/experience/telesymphoney/index.html.

Rullman, Brien, Telesymphony: Music for Cellphones available at http://www.modsquare.com/editoral/features/138-telesymphony-music-for-cellphones.html.

YouTube, Mobile Phone Concert: Dialtones @ Ars Electronica 2001. Avaiable at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1G-YesiBB8

You Tube, Mobile Phone Concert: Artist Interview. Available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3IhQKRob9g.