V&A Christmas Tree

Working with world-renowned stage designer Es Devlin and creative agency Sunshine, res.lab were responsible for creating the soundtrack for the V&A’s Christmas tree this year. Currently on display in the Museum’s Grand Entrance, the ‘Singing Tree’ is an audio-visual installation that invites visitors to contribute words that are transformed into an interactive choir of human and synthesised voices.

The original soundtrack is a beautiful piece of choral music, made up of multiple layers of male and female voices that transforms during the 5-week installation, gradually evolving as more words are added to the conversation by the general public.

res.lab were also responsible for designing the bespoke playback system in partnership with Yamaha. This multi-speaker setup was discretely housed inside the base of the tree to allow for maximum sound quality within the installation space, while maintaining a visually pleasing aesthetic for the tree.

[Photos courtesy of the Victoria & Albert Museum]

Set designer Es Devlin talks about her inspiration for 'The Singing Tree', a unique audio-visual Christmas tree created especially for our Grand Entrance. The tree is brought to life via machine learning and thousands of words collected from the public. We invite you to contribute your own word over the Christmas period to the Singing Tree.

Client
Es Devlin

Concept
Es Devlin

Video Design
Luke Halls Studio

Music Composition & Sound Design
res.lab

Audio System Design
res.lab

Creative Technologist
Ross Goodwin

Build
Lizzieprops, Michael Whiteley Studio

Projection
PRG

Sound System
Yamaha

Lead Associate Designer
Max Klaentschi