Program Notes

Sound Anthology: Program Notes . Time Will Tell . : Folkmar concertgoers, with the pervasive fix- are described in the program Hein, Curator ation on touchscreens as an optical notes (specifically the works distraction. This “concert” has the by Horacio Vaggione and additional intention of showing that Trevor Wishart). About the Music acousmatic works are being created 4. All sound files are at a 48- outside of GRM’s aesthetic world— kHz sample rate with 24-bit This selection of music compiled for in particular, in Swedish, British, resolution. The multichannel the readers of the current issue of and Japanese traditions—which are versions consist of multiple Computer Music Journal is conceived deliberately brought to the fore in single-track files or, in the as an imaginary concert. With a this collection. It seems to me that case of Vaggione, tracks that duration of just under 80 minutes, the acousmatic music coming from Swe- are paired as stereo files. sonic proceedings, including breaks, den has not gained the recognition Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/comj/article-pdf/42/4/96/1857231/comj_e_00492.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021 reach a length typical for a DVD, a it deserves. (I am a great admirer of In addition to the information CD, or a concert with electroacoustic the Elektronmusikstudio [EMS] in given in the following notes, further music—not too short, not too long. Stockholm, which has always been documentation is available online at The individual works, with lengths a model in terms of internationality, www.emdoku.de/en/search?query falling between 4 and 15 minutes, are infrastructure, freedom, hospitality, =CMJ%20Vol%2042%202018& also in the range of typical durations and equipment, without succumbing sources=emdoku. for electroacoustic music. to any temptation of technology for “. .Time will tell. .”? Is this the the sake of technology.) “typical” example of music to which There is, incidentally, a common Time Will Tell (2013)—Manuella we have become accustomed? Does thread through the concert program: Blackburn it meet our expectations? Surely not! Each piece has an individual feeling Neither the familiar nor the expected of tempo, but in a mysterious way a Tiny, microscale ticks, tocks, clanks, are what are important, what matters similarly calm pace seems to domi- bumps, and rings combine together is the new and unknown—that which nate, interspersed with highly emo- in new shapes and forms. Miniature is not easily explained or demystified. tional moments of density, dynamics, sounds from time-keeping devices, We are looking neither for witty and spatiality, and exciting transforma- old and new, were sourced and iso- poetic explanations nor for scholarly tions of both concrete and synthetic lated for their brevity and “barely elucidation and academic sagacity. sounds. there” quality. Reassembling regular We know full well that behind ev- There is one unusual aspect to this clock rhythms from an abundance ery work a tremendous amount of imaginary concert: the concertgoers— of single clock ticks and strikes is a technical and scientific skill is in- all CMJ readers who access the fundamental composition method- volved, and that is something worth audio data—can shape an individual ology in this work, along with the recognizing. Nevertheless, this An- program order for themselves, and simulation or illusion of internal thology is not based on a technical or they can freely choose between the clock mechanics churning, rotating, scientific theme, but only on an au- stereo and multichannel versions of and sometimes malfunctioning. The ditory fiction: an acousmatic concert the works! idea of clocks being wound and reset from—reflecting the international Some technical points are worth features as a structural device. Clock orientation of CMJ—an international noting: gongs, bells, and chimes also provide collection of composers. pitch content and harmonic moments The term acousmatic, about which 1. The eight pieces in the throughout the work. This composi- there has been some controversy, Anthology are in the conven- tion builds upon the microstructures was introduced by the Groupe de tional formats (stereophonic, constructed in “Switched On” (2011), recherche musicales (GRM), specifi- quadraphonic, octophonic). which deals with the sounds from cally by Franc¸ois Bayle, in 1974. The None uses a surround-sound small switches, buttons, and di- idea was that concertgoers should format, owing to the prob- als used for powering up electrical focus solely on the acoustic aspects of lematic nature of the center devices. the performance and not be distracted channel. “Time Will Tell” was realized at by optical influences or anything 2. Each multichannel work is the Goodman Studio of the Experi- else. This can be a challenge—and a also available in a stereo mental Media and Performing Arts difficult one at that—for 21st-century version. Center (EMPAC) at Rensselaer Poly- 3. Channel assignments are technic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New either evident from the file York, and at the Liverpool Hope Uni- doi:10.1162/COMJ e 00492 names of the channels, or they versity in the United Kingdom. The 96 Computer Music Journal Figure 1. Manuella Blackburn. Figure 2. Shintaro Imai. Florida), and Kunitachi College of Music (Tokyo). Her music has been performed across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Blackburn received the Grand Prize in the Digital Art Awards at Fujisawa, Japan, in 2007, as well as numerous other awards and prizes Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/comj/article-pdf/42/4/96/1857231/comj_e_00492.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021 for her acousmatic music. She is currently senior lecturer in music at Liverpool Hope University in the United Kingdom. Resonant Quarks and Figure in Movement—Shintaro Imai Both “Figure in Movement” and piece was commissioned by EMPAC. “Resonant Quarks” are works in Many thanks go to Harry Vannucci which the composer creates musical from the Waterford Clock Company variation with very brief recordings in New York and to Sir George White, of natural sounds that are drastically keeper of the Clockmakers’ Museum altered in time to emphasize their in London, for access to all the clocks microscopic movements. The sounds computer using the IRCAM Signal in the collection. The work was are subjected to extreme stretching Processing Workstation. The piece premiered on 22 November 2013 at and compression in time, as well was realized at the Sonology Depart- RPI. as undergoing pitch shifts, density ment of Kunitachi College of Music, This recording was mastered by variation, spatialization, and other Tokyo in 1998. Dominique Bassal in February to transformations—all using granular March 2017 in Montreal. sampling techniques governed by Track Duration: 12:00 probability and tendency-masking Track Duration: 8:24 algorithms. The alterations always In “Figure in Movement” the keep a certain continuity, and they sound materials are all recorded flute, Manuella Blackburn is a composer are interpolated so that the materials performed by Sabine Vogel using of electroacoustic music specializing remain identifiably derived from the extended techniques. All the signal- in the creation of acousmatic music. same sound objects. So the sound processing and control algorithms She also composes for instruments materials act like individual figures were programmed in Cycling ’74 and electronics, for improvising in motion, rather than anonymous Max. This piece was realized in laptop ensembles, and for dance. She units used in composition. 2005 at the Electronic Studio at the studied music at the University of Technical University Berlin (TUB) in Manchester, followed by a Masters cooperation with Sabine Vogel. in electroacoustic composition with Resonant Quarks (1998) David Berezan. She became a member Track Duration: 3:59 of the Manchester Theatre in Sound “Resonant Quarks” is the first work (MANTIS) in 2006 and completed a Imai created using the techniques Born in 1974, Shintaro Imai stud- PhD at the University of Manchester described. In this work, four kinds ied at the Kunitachi College of Mu- with Ricardo Climent in 2010. of sounds, all of only 1 second in sic, Tokyo, and at the Institut de Blackburn has worked in residence duration, were chosen as the main Recherche et de Coordination Acous- in the studios of Miso Music (Lisbon), material. All signal-processing and tique/Musique (IRCAM), Paris. He EMS (Stockholm), Atlantic Centre control algorithms were programmed received a grant from the Japanese for the Arts (New Smyrna Beach, in Max/FTS running on a NeXT Agency for Cultural Affairs for the Sound Anthology: Program Notes 97 Figure 3. Erik Mikael Karlsson. period 2002–2003 and was guest also works at Sveriges Radio in composer at the Center for Art and Malmo¨ as head of programs. His mu- Media (ZKM) in Karlsruhe, Germany. sic has been described as restricted The following year he was a guest and elegant, like music emanating of the Artists-in-Berlin program of from an inner landscape or an endless, the German Academic Exchange concentrated world: deep, dark, and Service (DAAD), where he worked serene. His music and sound art are as guest composer at the Electronic replete with structures, reflections, Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/comj/article-pdf/42/4/96/1857231/comj_e_00492.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021 Studio of the TUB. From 2008 to 2011 and phenomena of pure motion. he directed music of the Bauhaus In 1985 Karlsson attended EMS Stage Projects in Dessau, and in 2012 to study composition and electro-

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