Works 06
1. Dionysios Athinaios -Everyday Music
2. Fawaz AlJabban - ehem!
3. Joe Nicholson - Pocked In A Wood End
4. Tom Heatley - Anechoic Shattering
5. Natasha Roberts -Wildscape
6. Tychonas Michailidis - Lady De
7. Jacob Mayfield - Annulment
8. Nick Nolan - Soft Ambuse
Nick Nolan
Title: Soft Ambuse
At the start of the piece I wanted a sound-scape of textures and colours that would be used later to introduce the main concept of piece would gradually unfold over time. The main inspiration came to me as I was entering my PIN number into an ATM machine; I wondered what was happening to the electronic signals of my code? Where do most signals and digital pulses go and what space they occupy and travel to and from? Basically, when listening, try to imagine you are a tiny digital signal being bounced through thousands of digital networks, through broadband cables and buildings etc. These few seconds may sound trivial but they had direct impact on the style of the piece. My source sample was the electronic blips and noises created by an ATM machine. I used Audiosculpt to time-stretch these sounds, then used MetaSynth to bring the frequencies above the 10khz mark in many of the sounds. I mixed the high frequencies with very low bell-like sounds containing lots of enharmonics which I made on SuperCollider. Many of the low frequency sounds trigger a rise and reaction from the higher frequency ones. The last minute and a half of the piece focuses on the development on generating more consistently recognisable patterns and swells.
Tychonas Michailidis
Title: Lady De
This piece, which is actually an anagram of the English word “Delay”, is a combination of recorded and electronic sounds. The recorded sound comes from a bouncing spring that has a natural delay. From the natural delay I have aimed for the unnatural with a combination of electronic sounds. I have used the delay as an element of structure as well as the consequence of an action or event. The events are audible and imaginary the same time.
Duration 5:01 min
December 2006
Natasha Roberts
Composition : ‘Wild Landscape’
Duration: 5.08
Wild Landscape is my first Acousmatic Composition. Inspired by the sound of a coin dropping on a table and its subsequent clatter as a result of its spinning motion, I created a piece that reflected the energy and movement of what came out of such a small object. This was explored with use of panning, the awareness of the space that could be created from foreground and background sounds, and the idea of the transitions that could take one from a reality of understanding to a place of more mystery.
The beginning section is marked by the call and response of one sound to another, which was manipulated further. The breathing space, (silence) between the sounds I believe keep the listener in suspense, allowing them to wonder where the coin has moved to and also illustrates with impact the energy of the sounds when they come in.
The piece enters a middle section of rhythm that has evolved out of the former sounds, and begins to rupture into something darker and ‘wilder’. I believe this is the result of a build up of energy created by the sounds. (Almost like a succession of dominos that one by one cascades into each other!!)
A darker mood (almost a release state from the rhythmic crescendo) takes over the almost quirky rhythm and moves into a resonating section that builds up tension. Eventually the ending seems to summarise everything in an abrupt, crisp end.
Software and Equipment:
Metasynth Version 4.0 24bit Pro.
Logic Pro 7
Powerbook G4
Tom Heatley
Title: 'Anechoic Shattering'.
My piece was created using various sounds that I recorded; these included the scraping of a pan, rattling beads and percussive hits. The sounds were then heavily processed using Metasynth, Logic Pro 7.1 and AudioSculpt. The types of processing included time-stretching, pitch transposition, augmentation and diminution.
The aim of my piece was to produce a blended sound mass as one stream that shifted and mutated through time whilst having different streams surrounding and interacting with this shifting plane. I filled out the audible space as much as possible by including proportional low, middle and high frequencies spatialised across each speaker with varying dynamics in order to make a vast palette of interesting tones.
The structure of my piece has three main elements. The beginning contains a clear opening statement that anticipates forthcoming events and introduces the focal shapes and sounds that will play a leading role throughout the piece. The middle contains manipulated repetitions of important ideas and then a dramatic climatic gesture with the introduction of new sounds. The piece proceeds with arc shaped sounds and manipulations of previously heard sonic elements whilst teasing the listener with two crescendos that build up as if to a massive climax but then fizzle out.
As my piece comes to an end, there is a build up that suddenly cuts to silence as it peaks, leaving the listener curious about what is about to happen next. Previous build-ups have fizzled out and not provided the listener with the sonic explosion they desired and so after the final build up, I then allow a booming wall of falling sound that satisfies the listener and signals the coming of the end. I finally wrap the piece up with some arc shaped sounds that tie in with those heard at the beginning.