Tibetan singing bowls, analog computers, electronic synthesizers … and Jell-O?

Who knew that you could mold the mixture of arts and technology into so many variations?

As part of the annual ArtsWeek celebration at Indiana University Bloomington and the City of Bloomington , the campus will host a concert on March 3 of crystal and Tibetan bowls with vocal toning by world-renowned jazz singer and IU alumna Janiece Jaffe, local teacher and healer Syndee Eartheart and IUB computer scientist Jonathan Mills. A discussion will follow the performance, which will be held at 3 p.m. in the Chemistry Building , Room 122.

On its surface, the event does not appear to involve any technology, says Mills, a professor and composer who blends the sounds of nature and Tibetan singing bowls -- some of which are hundreds of years old -- into his modern, orchestral and healing music. Delve deeper into the unusual mix of ancient artisanship, vocal toning and modern computing, though, and you'll discover innovative technology “that is so new it has only recently begun to be widely recognized in the informatics and computer science communities.”

When ancient Tibetan craftsman constructed these bowls, which today are used for relaxation, meditation and holistic healing purposes, they were made in a “rough and imprecise fashion,” Mills says. The bowls typically were hammered together out of seven types of metal (gold, silver, copper, iron, led, mercury and tin), and the beat marks often are visible on their surfaces. Despite their rough exterior, they have “personality” and create a “beautiful sound,” he says. (An example of what a Tibetan singing bowl sounds like would be the phenomenon created when you rub a wet finger around the rim of a wine glass.)

Mills' research in analog computing has recently led to the application of harmonic equations in a computer, invented at IU, that computes using plastic and, yes, even Jell-O. His students have been investigating this supercomputer and its visual interface, he explains, which are used to explore advanced music synthesis and sound reproduction techniques. Over the next decade, he hopes to learn more about how this analog computer can generate different types of music. Additionally, he believes the computer might someday be able to reproduce “plastic holograms” of sound waves that offer a window into the various aspects (pitch, duration, beat) of musical performance.

For his part of the performance (which he will conduct via satellite from England), he will relate this technology to the nuances of Tibetan singing bowls and perform a short piece on one of his synthesizers that blends sampled and synthesized sound from his collection of bowls with the analog machine. A self-described “kid who couldn't even play the recorder in school,” he will demonstrate how modern technology can be used to replicate the sound made by a singing bowl and capture the special ambience those bowls help create.

He says he's given up trying to fully duplicate that sound, acknowledging that only the genuine artifact can give you the delicate shimmer, rasp, depth and clarity of these ancient pieces. But he is excited about the unlimited potential of the mixing of traditional arts and technology, two areas, he says, that are no longer separate.

“In the 1950s, they'd be using my computer to make nuclear weapons,” he says. “Not what am I doing? I'm making music. I just don't know where technology will take us.”

He talks openly about the possibilities that might exist if researchers were able to somehow replicate the beauty and purity of Jaffe's voice. “If we could capture that voice and the ambience of everything that goes around it, there may be things that can be done to make hospitals far less intimidating and cold,” he says. “What if we could create a more soothing sound?”

Until future discoveries are made, the technologies he has explored have taken him to this unique ArtsWeek event, which he hopes will inspire those who come to listen, the same way he's been inspired by Jaffe's singing.

“When people come, they will hear very relaxing and beautiful music,” he says.

To learn more about ArtsWeek, go to http://www.artsweek.indiana.edu.