Contact microphones are different from regular microphones in that they are used to detect sound waves transmitted through solid material rather than through air. Just as sound waves can travel through air, they can also travel through solid objects; these microphones pick up physical waves and turn them into an electric signal that can be amplified and converted to a mode of listening in which we are capable of hearing. Consisting of a small piezoelectric crystal element, these microphones provide access to a world of sounds and activity in which humans do not typically have access to. Requiring only a few inexpensive parts, the aforementioned piezoelectric disk and any cable capable of transmitting audio is all that is needed to construct a contact microphone.
For example, tapping on a metal ruler has a sonic characteristic that you can probably imagine in your head, as this is how we’ve familiarized ourselves with the sound of tapping on a thin piece of metal. However, when you listen to the vibrations that same tapping makes to the ruler internally, the result is something that is completely foreign, strange and almost untraceable. This perspective throws off our balance of familiarity and associations with objects and their qualities. This unfamiliar perspective and understanding via foreign modes of perception can give insights into both sound and objects and affords us a vantage point independent and disconnected from our usual lens.
CONTACT MICROPHONE
PART OF THE ARC OF WORK AND RESEARCH :
'FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF...'
2016
ON THE PERSPECTIVE OF OBJECTS
ABOUT
JOSEPH GIAMPIETRO IS A DESIGNER LIVING AND WORKING IN NEW YORK CITY
JOSEPH IS A GRADUATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA SCHOOL OF DESIGN WITH A MASTER DEGREE IN ARCHITECTURE
FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER /
SOUND DESIGNER / AUDIO ENGINEER
HISTORY
HIRSUTA
COMPETITION TEAM
2017
PRATT INSTITUTE
VISITING ASSISTANT PROFESSOR - BRUCE MAU
2017 - PRESENT
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
LECTURER - ROBERT STUART-SMITH
LECTURER - GEORGINA HULJICH
2014 - PRESENT
DAVID JAY WEINER ARCHITECTS
JUNIOR ARCHITECT
2016 - PRESENT
IBANEZKIM
PHOTOGRAPHER / SOUND DESIGNER
2016
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE
EMERGING DESIGN + RESEARCH CERTIFICATE
2013-2016
SU11 ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN
COMPETITION TEAM
2015
STOKES ARCHITECTURE
INTERN
2014
OLSAVSKY JAMINET ARCHITECTS
INTERN
2013
KENT STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE + ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN ARCHITECTURE
2008-2012