Real-Time Systems: Expressive Timbres Group A: Lofty Ascension Eli Badger, Cameron Bryer, Brendan Cardiff “Lofty Ascension” is a continuously building piece played through pure data coded by the musicians on stage. This song uses manipulation of sounds from guitars as well as different wave shaped oscillators to create a song that starts tranquil and builds to a distorted wall of noise with all instruments being loud and chaotic but beautifully fitting in with one another. In this piece there are three different musicians playing, all with different roles and sounds to fill out the soundscape; the first musician is Eli Badger, who is playing a polyphonic synth controlling the lower frequencies of the song and also helping establish the chords and key of the song. The second musician is Brendan Cardiff, he will be manipulating the sound of the guitar he is playing, his manipulations include ring modulation, delay, reverb and distortion to create sweet rich tones but also creates interesting rhythms that challenge the audience to lean into the performance. The final musician is Cameron Bryer, the instrument he has coded is a monophonic synth using multiple oscillators to create high-pitched arpeggiated chords to fill out the high end of the soundscape. The sound from his instrument is then being manipulated with distortion, delay, reverb and chorus to create an arpeggiated chord sound that builds out the rest of the chord that the other two musicians will create. The performance is a free flowing continuous build, which then crashes back down to a simple A 440hz sine wave to create a vast contrast that leaves the listener satisfied. This form provides structure, but also allows the musicians to improvise with their instruments and working off each other to create the best performance possible for the audience. We hope you enjoy!
Group B: Blizzard Liam Brown, Taine McDonald, Ainsley Shiri ‘Blizzard’ is an improvised performance with a defined structure that aims to take the audience on a journey through a series of environments. While pitch remains important throughout the piece, timbre and texture are the main focus. In addition, feedback in delay and reverb effects is used throughout the performance as an unexpected timbre change. The piece features three main sections. The first section starts off light, but becomes more foreboding as more layers and melodies are added. The second section features the aforementioned feedback with the aim to shock the audience with unexpected rhythms or “glitches”. These glitches are combined with more melodic elements and white noise effects that represent the blizzard. The final section goes back to a thinner texture with soft sounds and arpeggios that slowly fade out. For the performance, all performers used a MIDI keyboard to control elements such as pitch. The performers coded their own instruments using Pure Data. Taine’s instrument includes a monophonic synthesiser with an adaptive reverb and filters. Taine also has access to both a sine and saw oscillator to control timbre. Liam’s instrument makes use of multiple oscillators playing slightly different pitches at random to create a rich sound. He has access to multiple of the oscillators which he can transpose by octaves. He also makes uses of a delay with feedback in the middle section. Ainsley has two patches in his instrument. The first contains six square monophonic synthesisers mapped to the notes of a D minor chord and the note triggers and lengths are automated. His second patch consists of one monophonic sine oscillator that has delay, reverb, and feedback attached to it. This patch is designed to add texture and interesting timbres. The performers invite the audience to come along with them on a journey of many environments.
Group C: Atychi Jirra Bell, Michael Webb Atychi is a progressive experimental music concept, influenced by artists such as Aphex Twin who is best known for his idiosyncratic work in electronic styles such as techno, ambient, and jungle. The performance aims to provoke the listener's ears with rich textures and screeching tones. This piece is designed to invoke a sense of calm, randomness and eventually evolving into uneasiness. Laying down the foundation of the work is Michael Webb with his drone-like synthesiser, which revolves around the interaction between different individual delays. While you might anticipate what sound comes next, you may still be surprised by the outcome. Different frequencies on individual sawtooth oscillators, interact with the delays which can be triggered on and off to cause interesting chords and sounds to be played. This is all a foundation to Jirra Bell’s utilisation of a monophonic synthesizer controlled with a Novation MIDI Keyboard. The patch uses a sine wave oscillator and two saw wave oscillators along with filtering from a BOB filter to modify the texture and timbre of the waveform. Reverb and slight delay were used to create space and atmosphere when changing where the instrument sits in a sonic space. Using filtering while droning a note at 30 Hertz allows the instrument to create a harsh screeching that intrigues the ear as well as diversely being able to create a low bass tone that comes in and out of phase to create a pulsating effect. Jirra’s role in this performance is an evolving one starting from creating an ambient space to creating a sense of unease. The performers invite the audience to go on this experience with them and enjoy what is known as, Atychi.
Group D: Parallel Collison Jack Bolton, Jasper Hodgson, Jack Meimaris Parallel Collision is an amalgamation of contrasting and rich textural synthesis, slowly evolving over the course of the performance, rising, and falling before a final crescendo. It explores possibilities found beyond traditional harmonic sound, experimenting with atonality, polyrhythms and moving away from needing a rigid and repeating structure, all whilst still being cohesive. The pieces begin with each instrument coming in one by one, building in intensity, the focus being on slowly increasing resonance before two instruments fade away and with only a drone/lead playing. The second section focuses more on being melodic. Following this the work becomes incredibly chaotic with the bass changing becoming much more distorted. This continues before a period of serenity occurs, the instruments dropping in rhythm and the bass returning to its lower frequency. The final section is the crux of the piece, heavily distorted and fast-paced, with quick runs and slides being played. Every element, whilst significantly different, builds upon each other, layering texture upon texture, establishing a landscape in which opposing sounds interweave, with every instrument filling out certain pockets of the frequency range, contrasting each other well. These elements all combine to create a highly adaptable and improvisational experience that ensures the audience is not hearing one consistent and unchanging series of sounds. The creation of the software instruments was done using the program Pure Data, which allowed for an unencumbered experience for generating sound and inputting effects, i.e., reverb, delay, distortion etc. Aside from the ability to control components of Pd via the use of a mouse, MIDI input using controllers is utilised. The use of MIDI keyboards puts sound manipulation and expressiveness at the forefront, by providing the ability to alter the timbral quality of the instruments on a whim by adjusting an array of computational parameters.
Group E: Untitled Imanuele Concengco, Kezia Hilkiah, Oscar Tooms No program notes were provided.
Group F: Voyáge James Engwirda, Angus Hall, Tom Jackson, Remi Raymond Voyáge is a sonic blend of abrupt, harsh timbres juxtaposed with silky, sustained melodic variety. It follows the story of a ship’s travels through space. The timbral atmosphere initially commences with the ship taking off, and then settles in an interstellar aura of space. The story then takes an abrupt turn, unfolded by the extensive use of sonic surprise. Grounding the performance in a rich bed of low rumble is a patch made by no other than Angus Hall, with his timbrely complex polyphonic synthesiser. Taking advantage of the controls on his Arturia Minilab mk2 MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) controller, Angus adjusts the patch with a focuses on the use of a BOB low-pass filter to manage the sound’s harshness throughout the performance. This is further reinforced with the implementation of reverb, which is similarly applied to all instruments within the group. James Engwirda utilises a square wave synthesiser controlled with a Novation Keyboard. The patch is modulated and manipulated through the use of a low-pass filter and adjustable reverb controls. James is responsible for conveying the emotion of the ship through pitch variations as well as other environmental attributes. From this, the timbral environment of the sound spectrum across the performance is further manipulated by Tom Jackson. His patch utilises a low pass filter and reverb to create both the low rumble of the spaceship taking off, and an ambient peaceful bell sound to create the feeling of floating through space. This is then reinforced by Remi Raymond’s instrument, which uses a sawtooth oscillator, noise, and a tremolo effect to replicate the atmosphere of the spaceship taking off, ultimately increasing the tension surrounding the performance. Following this, his patch uses a different blend of the same elements to replicate asteroids flying by in space, enhanced through the use of a novation keyboard. Please enjoy the performance!