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Could you tell us about the work
that you did with Mr Wodiczko

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on the Personal Instrument,
the support you gave him?

3
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Yes. I worked in the Experimental
Studio since 1965

4
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and I think it was 1968 when
Krzysztof Wodiczko showed up.

5
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At the time, he was a Master of Arts to be

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as he was still working
on his master's degree project,

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which was the design of
this cabin, or a kind of a grid.

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The so called Percussion Laboratory.

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I had a chance to watch how he
developed and modified the design.

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But, incidentally, a totally
different possibility came up.

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In 1968 I started to use,
in various applications,

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photoresistors, or light
dependent resistors.

13
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At the time, such accessories
were mainly used

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for turning on and
switching off street lights

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and in tv remote controls.

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However, I came to a conclusion that

17
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a photoresistor is a really cool instrument

18
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that can be used in our domain
of concrete music and electronic music.

19
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The Experimental Studio was
a place where paths

20
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of many visitors and
collaborators crossed.

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At some point, this fact was
noticed by Krzysztof Wodiczko

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who, at that time, I started
to run into at the Studio.

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His idea was to build out of it
a personal instrument.

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I put together all the electronic equipment

25
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that is a photoresistor,

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some kind of active circuit,
which was also needed,

27
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a battery and other
smaller accessories.

28
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Then, he designed and built
what we can see here.

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The instrument consists
of giant headphones,

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through which he perceives the sounds

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that are the effect of his, let's say,
movement and operation of the instrument,

32
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and gloves with photoresistors
mounted onto them.

33
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Moving his hands,
or just clenching his fists,

34
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he excludes the sunlight
in the photoresistors

35
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and causes certain modulations of the sound

36
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of his speech or any other sound
material he prepared beforehand.

37
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In either case, he creates
a certain sound event.

38
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Obviously, I helped
Krzysztof to wire and start

39
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the whole apparatus so that
it could work properly.

40
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When the instrument was ready,
he invited me

41
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to the Academy of Fine Arts
in Myśliwiecka Street

42
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where he was to give a performance
to demonstrate his Personal Instrument

43
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to a wide audience of
graduates, students

44
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and many others guests, including

45
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our mutual acquaintance Esztényi.

46
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I was very much impressed
by Krzysztof's presentation

47
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because, for one thing, I was aware

48
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of how photoresistors
can be used to obtain

49
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sound manipulations,
or modulations, of various kind.

50
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The other thing was that Krzysztof
gave a sort of, let's say,

51
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stage performance, which he
created and thought through.

52
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He was fascinated
with this whole venture.

53
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And everyone watched
with great admiration

54
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because he performed as
both an artist and an actor.

55
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I have a very vivid
memory of this spectacle

56
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that Krzysztof delivered
on this occasion.

57
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I realized it then that

58
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when such instrumentarium
falls into the right hands,

59
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that is the hands of an artist,
it enables to create

60
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an entirely new reality,
some magical world.

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While working
in the Experimental Studio,

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I also built a device
called a photoelectric equalizer.

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It consisted of two sets,

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each of which had three photoresistors.

65
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They were fixed
under the two lenses

66
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and operated within the system
of two kinds of filters.

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One was a low-pass filter

68
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and the other - a high-pass filter.

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My colleagues,
Bogdan Mazurek in particular,

70
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liked to use this device.

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By directing strong light
from above onto it

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and moving his hands,
crossing and uncrossing them

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he would induce a deep
infiltration, or deformation,

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of the sound flowing
through the apparatus.

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It was used in some of the pieces

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Bohdan Mazurek composed at the Studio.

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Discovering that a photoresistor,

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apart from its application in the industry
and other fields,

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can become an important tool
in the works of the Experimental Studio.

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resulted in the creation of
Wodiczko's Personal Instrument

81
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but also of the photoelectric collector,
which was preserved to this day

82
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and perhaps will be used during

83
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the possible reconstruction
of the Experimental Studio,

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at it was discussed during our seminar.

85
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These are my impressions.

86
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Excellent.

87
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And the sound? What did it sound
like to hear Wodiczko's instrument?

88
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It deforms the sound?
Was it an aggressive noise?

89
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No, not aggressive.

90
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I think that it was his voice
that he used for the most part.

91
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He had a microphone attached
just like I have one here

92
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in medium close-up.

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So, he was articulating
his oration, or improvising,

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but through the movement of his hands

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he processed it.

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In result, his speech was
at times clear and understandable,

97
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at other times it got
somehow deformed.

98
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Either the whole sound
disappeared or faded

99
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or just its high or low tones.

100
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Well, in this way, a sort of
harmony was created

101
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between the performer's gestures
and the sound he transmitted

102
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as the sounds were spread
through the loudspeakers

103
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for everyone around to hear.

104
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So, the audience was also
fascinated by the fact that

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at one time they could hear and
tell what he was articulating.

106
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Like when he held out
his hands towards the light.

107
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Then his speech was fully understandable.

108
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But, at some point, through his
hand movement, he would dull the sound

109
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and strip the voice of
its high or low tones.

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The whole thing was
an authentic play with sounds

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and a dynamic event in one.

112
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Mr Makowski, thank you very much.
That was very interesting.

113
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Thank you.