WELCOME TO CREATIVE MUSIC TECHNOLOGY 2023
Monday 6 May – Basil Jones Orchestral Hall
The CMT department is pleased to open its 2023 performance series with a concert of new music using digital and electronic technologies. Performers include CMT staff, graduates, and students.
“Scatter” by Matt Sorensen
Scatter is a performance using Ableton Live that foregrounds the use of vocal effects and looping of a live source (voice). Abnormal textures created by formant shifting and aggressive tuning are leaned into - and they eventually morph the voice into an element barely resembling its original form. The flexibility of this element is shown by placing it into the context of EDM, where it sits alongside distorted sub-bass and impactful drums. One technique utilised in the final section of the performance is that of ‘sidechained reverse gating’.
Gating - a sound’s volume being dramatically reduced when it falls below a specified level.
Sidechained gating - a sound’s volume being dramatically reduced when a separate source falls below a specified level.
Sidechained reverse gating - a sound’s volume being dramatically reduced when a separate source reaches above a specified level. In this case, the vocal-sourced loop is connected to the kick drum - when sound is being produced from the kick drum, the loop reduces in volume significantly. This performance exclusively uses plug-ins and effects available as freeware or as part of Ableton’s stock library. Matt is a graduate of the Creative Music Technology program, and a tutor for the subjects Interactive Music and Creative Studio Practices.
“Recur Again” by Andrew Brown
Recur Again is a live coding performance that focuses on creating multiple layers of feedback processes across various sensory levels, such as sonic, visual, and performative. Like all live performances, especially semi-improvised ones, there is constant feedback between the musician and instrument. And in this case, also between the ongoing output produced by unstable algorithmic structures and the evolving management of the compositional structure. The synthesis processes include layers of short and longer term delays and the visual elements echo this with visual feedback and transformation. This performance exploits the use of the patterns from live coding practices and languages, specifically articulated in the Live Coding Toolkit for Pure Data developed by the performer. Live coding languages are designed to provide the performer with agency over the musical outcome. However, there is always a degree of agency in the language itself, and many algorithmic processes are specifically intended to provide the computer with influence (agency) over the outcome, for example with the use of random functions.
“The monks of Cha Cha O to Hugill” by The monks of Cha Cha
The Monks of Cha Cha return to present Ode To Hugill, a transformative experience to welcome you into the world of Interactive Music. Throughout this performance of Ode to Hugill, second year CMT students Joe Cross, Charlotte Lennon, Connor Townson and Liv Gadenne will examine interactive elements of music explored throughout first year though the intersection between the recorded and synthesised worlds. Along this journey you will encounter elements of Gregorian chant woven into the disposition of electronic music. This performance will also demonstrate the idea of synthesis between acoustic and electronic elements, as Charlotte Lennon will be using a vocoder to manipulate the dynamics and spectral content of her voice. Joe will be developing the explosive rhythms in this piece, supported by Liv’s seismic bass and Connor’s luscious choral pads. Our Ode provides the audience with a taste of Andrew Hugill, The Digital Musician, to establish the academic basis for all future reports within the realm of Interactive Music. Ode to Hugill is but a sample of the interactive antics to come.
“Difference Patterns #1” by Timothy Tate
Difference Patterns is the first in a series of compositional studies that explore the creative use and misuse of a circuit-bent portable CD player when paired with viola. Difference Patterns #1 features a musical fragment, first played by the viola, which forms the structure and musical material for the work. Whilst the viola is played live with reverb the CD contains a recording of this same musical fragment without reverb. The data and address pins of the CD player’s RAM chip, which is associated with the electronic shock/skip protection, have been wired to headers allowing short circuits to be created by patching them directly to each other or to momentary switches. During the performance the CD player is ‘played’ by way of foot switches or tactile switches and, by activating a series of patches, the ordinarily linear playback of recorded audio is subverted resulting in the discman stuttering, producing rhythmic superimpositions, clicks, pops, and glitches. These usually undesirable sonic artefacts are celebrated, influencing the performance and forming a recursive process that shapes the structure and direction of the performance.
“Leaning Into It” by Oscar Tooms
‘Leaning Into It’ featuring vocalist Benny Blacket, began as a freestyle vocal performance over 4 piano chords, before being encompassed in an instrumental track, consisting of lush synth plucks, acoustic drums, drones, kazoos and found sounds. The instrumental takes inspiration from ambient/experimental electronic musicians such as ‘Rival Consoles’ and ‘Icarus’. Oscar’s performance of ‘Leaning Into It’, performed with Ableton Live, will demonstrate numerous skills and techniques taught across various pieces of software and hardware throughout the Creative Music Technology degree. The lead pluck that drifts in and out throughout the performance, is a synthesiser patch he designed to be performed by the ‘Leaf’ MIDI controller he built in the second year subject Electronic Instruments. This instrument allows the performer to control multiple parameters of a sound simultaneously, encouraging for more natural and organic sounding results. Consisting of faders, a pressure pad, an infrared sensor and potentiometers, the ‘Leaf’ instrument allows for all sorts of movement and emotion to be injected throughout the piece, and will therefore be the driving force of the performance. The music will also be supported by various different audio reactive visuals, that were built using Touch Designer, a program taught through the second year subject Multimedia Projects.
“Stasis (plural)” by Fin Wegener
‘Stasis (plural)’ is a semi-improvised live performance piece for modular synthesiser by audiovisual artist Fin Wegener (The Abstract Human Radio) inspired by La Monte Young and Sarah Davachi. Through the exploration of stasis, the piece aims to magnify the performance of the subtle, shining light on sonic fragments and minute changes that emerge once the ear is accustomed to static sound. The modular synthesis system is largely based on spectral resonation, in which a bank of filters feed-back into themselves to produce notes from a chosen key. These filters are then modulated in amplitude and fed into a series of effects, before being mixed with samples and additional voices. Tonally, the piece is tuned to just intonation, which, according to the philosophies of composers like La Monte Young and Ben Johnston, lends itself to extreme duration far more than equal temperament. In just intonation, intervals between notes maintain simplified or ‘pure’ relationships (eg. a fifth is ⅔ higher than the tonic), which is generally more pleasing to the ear and more relaxing over long periods of time. See if you can feel the difference! The visual accompaniment to this piece is a palette of real-time patches in Touchdesigner designed to relax and intrigue. Some use audio-generated elements that stem from the music itself, interpreting the work into another sensory form, while others are based on random algorithms that give the visual a ‘mind of its own’. Together, the visual and sonic elements form a work that engages across senses, inching the musical performance closer to an embodied ‘experience’ rather than a passive listening; a notion that encapsulates much of Fin’s larger artistic intent.
