Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Semblance of Fern was commissioned by Experimental Sound Studio as part of their ongoing Florasonic series, presented in collaboration with the Lincoln Park Conservatory in Chicago.
This video is a behind-the-scenes look at the entire process of creating this work: initial ideation, building a custom hardware musical instrument, composing, and installing the work on-site at a public greenhouse.
Semblance of Fern is inspired by the Barnsley Fern, a fractal algorithm that is typically used to draw a fern (first described by mathematician Dr. Michael Barnsley in his 1988 book "Fractals Everywhere"). In collaboration with instrument designer Ryan Gaston, we designed a custom eurorack module that allows us to use the Barnsley Fern algorithm (along with a number of derivative algorithms) as a control voltage source for electronic sound processing and control. The entire piece was composed using the fern algorithms as the primary control sources, impacting how sounds are triggered, spatialized, and manipulated.
Special thank you to Ryan Gaston for your collaboration on this project and help designing the Semblance of Fern module.
Semblance of Fern will be installed in the Fern Room at the Lincoln Park Conservatory from Oct. 5th – Nov. 23rd, 2025. The piece will play back every hour during opening hours.
For more information & to support ESS, visit: ess.org
Join me on Patreon!
patreon.com/sarahbellereid
Sarah Belle Reid is a Canadian performer-composer, active in the fields of electroacoustic trumpet performance, intermedia arts, music technology, and improvisation.
sarahbellereid.com
Semblance of Fern was commissioned by Experimental Sound Studio as part of their ongoing Florasonic series, presented in collaboration with the Lincoln Park Conservatory in Chicago.
This video is a behind-the-scenes look at the entire process of creating this work: initial ideation, building a custom hardware musical instrument, composing, and installing the work on-site at a public greenhouse.
Semblance of Fern is inspired by the Barnsley Fern, a fractal algorithm that is typically used to draw a fern (first described by mathematician Dr. Michael Barnsley in his 1988 book "Fractals Everywhere"). In collaboration with instrument designer Ryan Gaston, we designed a custom eurorack module that allows us to use the Barnsley Fern algorithm (along with a number of derivative algorithms) as a control voltage source for electronic sound processing and control. The entire piece was composed using the fern algorithms as the primary control sources, impacting how sounds are triggered, spatialized, and manipulated.
Special thank you to Ryan Gaston for your collaboration on this project and help designing the Semblance of Fern module.
Semblance of Fern will be installed in the Fern Room at the Lincoln Park Conservatory from Oct. 5th – Nov. 23rd, 2025. The piece will play back every hour during opening hours.
For more information & to support ESS, visit: ess.org
Join me on Patreon!
patreon.com/sarahbellereid
Sarah Belle Reid is a Canadian performer-composer, active in the fields of electroacoustic trumpet performance, intermedia arts, music technology, and improvisation.
sarahbellereid.com
