Program: Real-Time Systems

Monday 12 September 2022

Creative Music Technology

Counterpoise: A Real Time Systems concert This concert features original experimental sound works with bespoke software instruments used to balance the forces of constraint and turbulence.

THE DIGITAL ESCAPE Joseph Cross, Morgan Chippendale, Eden Shepherd The Digital Escape is a slow, droning industrial-ambient piece performed using MIDI controllers sending data into our Pure Data patches. This piece opens in an atmospheric way with Morgan’s patch with droning and eerie elements while being supported by Joe and Eden employing rhythmical elements. Over time certain elements from Joe and Eden’s patches become far more intense and harsher through the unpredictable noise and modulations that build the climax of the “escape.” These elements are being manipulated to create changing textures and timbres that place greater emphasis on both rhythmic and noise elements. In turn, this allows us to place sonic significance in critical areas of our piece.

Joe’s patch consists of haunting, dissonant complex ambient textures, setting the scene and creating a dreary, surreal, and futuristic atmosphere. This timbre of this patch changes significantly throughout the duration of the piece under gestural control using MIDI mappings through the Novation Launchkey. These mappings manipulate the textures of oscillators and noise elements. To further develop this piece, Morgan can emphasise elements by changing volume and panning. These help in adding depth to the story that is being told.

Morgan has created a noise-based drone patch, which emulates the sound of a gust of wind. The more organic nature of this sound contrasts significantly with the more digital soundscapes created by Joe and Eden and provides yet another unique layer to the story of the “escape.”

Eden will be performing highly reverberated, clipping harmonic noise controlled using a Novation Launchkey 49 to influence modulating parameters such as a band-pass filter and wave folding.

This noise becomes far harsher and more dissonant as the piece progresses, especially during its climax, as Morgan adds techniques such as wave folding and harsh clipping.

IF IT GOES WRONG, IT PROBABLY MEANS WE DID SOMETHING RIGHT Harrison Morris, Joshua Crawford The title of this piece relates to its improvisational nature. This evolving soundscape follows a rondo (ABA) form. Beginning with a more ambient atmosphere, the sounds continue to evolve through manipulation of effects in the two Pure Data (Pd) instruments which are performed using MIDI controllers.

Rather than following a conventional music script, the way performers maintain a common direction is by following time stamps and prompts to advance the music. Moving into the second section, the work approaches ‘musical chaos.’ It is here where the capabilities of our instruments are pushed to their extreme. Experimenting with combinations of effects and layering of oscillators the result is crazy and uncomfortable. This outcome relates back to our title in that, if you find what you are listening to unpleasant, we have been successful. This is where the distinctive features of our instruments are demonstrated. Using randomisers, pitch bends, and vocal modulation the work results in a chaotic noise environment.

From there we recapitulate the beginning section as it reverts to where its noise journey began slowly descending into nothingness.

AN EARLY MORNINGS THAW Connor Townson, Ethan Waller Our work, An Early Morning’s Thaw, is based upon and reflects the harsh and undulating nature of an arctic tundra. This work explores the coldness of lights blues and the warmth of orange timbral colours. It focused on the juxtaposition between these two contrasting themes.

Connor’s patch consists of three main elements. A wind machine which emulates the biting gales of the tundra, an aggressive poly synth which adds a much-needed chordal element to the piece, and a bell synth which becomes a recurring idea throughout the piece and is a metaphor for a single fire, in a storm of snow. And as the piece builds the fire slowly gets more lost in the snow, building to the climax where it is extinguished.

Ethan will be performing on two contrasting Pure Data synths; the first is dreamlike and subdued.

It blends well with the relaxed atmosphere of the first section and serves as a metaphor for the northern lights. The second, in contrast, is extremely aggressive and is built upon a heavily ring modulated sine wave. While both synths are extremely different sonically, they both share the same effects; band pass filters, LFO’s and copious amounts of reverb and delay.

TELL YOUR EARDRUMS WE’RE SORRY Charlotte Lennon, Liv Gadenne, Jesse Beaumont ‘Tell Your Eardrums We’re Sorry’ takes the audience on a journey, using the metaphor of conduction to guide the performance. The performance has a defined structure; beginning with a slow, eerie feel created by morphing soundscapes from all three Pure Data patches. This chill, ambient vibe then progresses to a more intense section where noisier parts of all patches are being used, creating a feeling of discomfort. This then calms, introducing another ambient section where similar parts of the patches, implemented at the beginning, are now used to bring the piece to a more comforting end, this time with a more uplifting tone.

To achieve these diverse sections, each member of the group has created a different kind of instrument – Charlotte's being a subtractive ‘cut-off’ synthesiser, Liv’s a modulator-based synthesiser and Jesse’s making use of timed sequencing elements.

This performance is dedicated to our dear friend Joesph “JoJo” Cross for assisting us in the use of the beloved Mobile Music Platform software. Without him, we would have all been truly lost in week 5.

TIME AND SPACE Alexis Luxford, Matthew Johns, Matthew Rabbas The piece, ‘Time and Space’ draws inspiration from outer space and the beauty of the unknown.

The sounds from our bespoke instruments take the audience on a journey through time and into the vastness of space.

Matthew J’s Pure Data instrument makes use of a long-tailed reverb, allowing him to play chords on a mono synthesiser with two oscillators. Since the initial notes are not heard – only the reverb tail – it creates an interesting and spacious feeling that is hard to recreate. Also, his patch allows him to manipulate the pitch of the synthesiser via MIDI from a Novation Launch key fader. This creates a sound like that of a laser gun, reminding the audience of Star Wars and the sound design heard in it.

Alexis’ patch utilises many MIDI-mapped controls, allowing him ultimate control over his instrument and the produced sound. One of Alexi’s sounds is like a damaged/breaking synthesizer, yet the timbre is dreamlike and transformative. Alexi also plays interesting harmonic intervals such as tritones to create an uneasy and surreal vibe, to accompany the audience as their imagination travels through space and time. Since Alexi can manipulate his synthesiser in many ways, the performance can extensively develop as time progresses.

Matthew R’s instrument is used for percussive sounds that are not possible from other group members patches. These percussive sounds create energy and movement, so the audience feels like they are gaining speed on their dreamlike journey! Matthew’s complex percussive sounds are an integral part of the performance and help convey a sense of time to the audience.

LOBOTOMY Ellee Chapman, Caitlin Mills, James Madden This performance explores the potential of our instruments’ capabilities. Lobotomy is a noise piece that forms a narrative soundtrack of a tragic drama script about a young woman who is stalked and killed on a beach. For this, the work features an instrument’s noise oscillators with a resonant low-pass filter that replicates the atmosphere of a beach. This is accompanied by a droning bass sound playing atonally to create an unsettled mood. The pacing and gradual crescendo of the work mimics the stalking actions of the antagonist before reaching its dynamic peak with a screeching noise oscillator.