Trimpin recently installed Der Ring at the new Phaeno Science Center in Wolfsberg, Germany. Der Ring consists of three metal circular tracks, small, medium and large, each containing an aluminum ball. It's based on the sound created by Perpetual Motion and the harmonic spectrum ratio of 3-4-5. Trimpin was inspired to make Der Ring when he had a personal moment of clarity: music works through "sinus and cosinus" - Latin for Sine and Cosine, everything else is secondary.

Trimpin fine tunes one of Der Ring's aluminum balls   Photo: Joe Ansel

The tracks are supported by an elaborate pulley system hooked up to what Trimpin calls a "gearbox." The gearbox is MIDI controlled by a custom programmed developed for a Mac laptop. The program instructs the pulley supports to move up and down which creates an rolling moment that propels the ball around the circumference of the track. Based on the speed, duration and travel length of the pulleys the ball can move fast or slow, and in either direction. The pulsating sound created by the movement of the ball gives Der Ring a distinctive sonic flavor that is soothing and fascinating at the same time.

Trimpin's Der Ring is being assembled in the Phaeno Science Center   Photo: Joe Ansel

Trimpin cites that the reason he moved to Seattle, Washington from the small town of Efringen-Germany was because Americans throw out a lot more high-tech garbage than Europeans. Through his sources, he has been able to acquire thousands of pieces of metals, computers, musical instruments - and anything else that could be utilized into one of his sound visualizations - and house them in a four story building that he calls his studio.

Visitors to the Phaeno science center may not immediately recognize Trimpin's Der Ring since it is suspended close to the ceiling, and only emits a Doppler-like, whirling sound. However, once discovered, many become absorbed by its complex simplicity. The ration of the rings, 3 to 4 to 5, represents a major triad, a basic chord that is the foundation of Western music. Thus, the calming sounds, created by each ring, are actually the notes of G, C and E, adding another level to the sculpture's depth.

Trimpin's one-of-a-kind installations come from a limitless mind that never stops imagining how sound can be experienced visually. His genius comes not only from inventing new methods of demonstrating his artistic vision, but from consistently achieving the desired effect of invoking each individual's musical spirit.

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