DVD Program Notes

Part One: Colby Leider, Curator Motivated by my interests both in mation artist Stephanie Maxwell, Curator’s Note multichannel composition and alter- maps and weaves an uncharted terri- nate controllers, this compilation is tory of sound and image that have built loosely around contrasting been subjected to physical manipula- To highlight some of the outstanding themes of the subtle stasis of audio- tion, even as it embraces relatively surround audio, multimedia work, visual ambience versus the biting simple building blocks of points, and new musical controllers being drive of jagged pointillism, of slow- lines, curves, and largely isolated created by members of the computer moving glaciers against pins and nee- events in both its visual and its mu- music community, the editors of dles. Simply stated, these works sical material. Computer Music Journal decided to speak to the intensity of experience Copper Islands, by composer and issue a two-hour DVD-Video disc to that can be created by either slow or video artist Kristine H. Burns, ex- accompany Volume 27. The disc is fast rates of change of materials. plores a delicate interplay between playable on any DVD-equipped com- Benjamin Broening’s (after) grace- sounds and abstract isomorphic tex- puter or commercial home-theater fully navigates through a referential tures. Consisting of relatively simple DVD player, and the built-in Dolby fantasy on works by John Dowland synthesized video and audio, the Digital decoder found on most home- and William Byrd. The result is a work exhibits an astonishing com- theater audio amplifiers will allow kind of blissful faded memory and a plexity of gestalt through the contin- many of the works to be heard in 5.1 powerful reminder of the computer’s uous yet subtle shift of audio-visual surround (Left, Center, Right, Left ability to help composers investigate, synchrony. Alicyn Warren’s evoca- Surround, Right Surround, Low- mold, and re-shape the past into an tive and poignant Molly, by contrast, Frequency Effects). When listening to altogether different present. The recounts a highly personal tale of surround-encoded works over stereo work comprises two movements. In companionship, love, age, and loss. playback, Dolby Digital will auto- a somewhat similar vein is Al Nur The minimally processed recorded matically downmix the audio tracks (La Luce) by Alessandro Cipriani, images and sounds draw in the lis- to two channels. The disc consists which creates an immensely rich tener/viewer to the narrative, as if of two parts: a curated portion of tapestry of transformed Islamic the composer were speaking directly invited compositions and a compen- chant, resulting in a carefully crafted to us in the same room. dium of sound examples to accom- pseudo-ritual that occupies a unique Several works feature composer- pany articles in Volume 27. I pro- cultural context within the electro- performers using alternate control- duced this compilation at my home acoustic idiom. This highly engaging lers to generate and transform sound studio in Homestead, Florida during work literally envelops the listener, in real time. Matthew Burtner’s June and July 2003. issuing an invitation to participate Noisegate 67 is the composer’s first The works represented fall into personally in the ritual. work for his metasaxophone control- roughly three categories. Audio-only Adrian Moore’s Resonant Image ler. Articulated as one large breath, compositions by Benjamin Broening traverses shades of audiovisual reso- the composition envelops the indi- (5.1), Matthew Burtner (stereo), Ales- nance as it highlights the ability of vidual breath of the performer into a sandro Cipriani (5.1), and Paul sound and image to interact with self-similar shape of structural inten- Koonce (5.0) are accompanied simply each other in an engaging way. The sity as it explores the musical nature by a blank screen on playback. Mul- piece presents a wonderfully psyche- of noise and tone, of breath and timedia works by Kristine H. Burns delic montage of fantastical dreams, sound. Paul Koonce’s Free Reeds (stereo), Manuel Rocha Iturbide (4.0), of continually changing and evolving demonstrates a reconstructed com- Dennis Miller (stereo), Adrian Moore events, and both sound and image puter meta-harmonica controlled by (stereo), Allan Schindler and Ste- echo in our memories after the the composer’s own hands—a virtual phanie Maxwell (stereo), and Alicyn work’s spirited conclusion. Dennis harmonica delightfully liberated Warren (stereo) feature synchronized Miller’s faktura navigates a syn- from the usual physics by which it images and audio. Finally, documen- thetic visual environment where tex- produces sound. Mr. Koonce grace- tation of an installation by Ted Apel tures—both aural and visual— fully shapes each partial of the re- and performance footage of the duo collide, forming an altogether new constructed harmonica into a interface and Perry Cook, all down- world of experience. The work terra mesmerizing toccata of gesture, mel- mixed to stereo, complete the cur- incognita, a collaboration between ody, and harmony. Performance foot- ated portion of the disc. composer Allan Schindler and ani- age by the performance duo known

DVD Program Notes 121

Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/014892603322730541 by guest on 28 September 2021 as interface (Curtis Bahn and Dan sound heard from each plate is a Sound exhibit in Chico, California; Trueman) along with Perry Cook combination of the resonant char- the Sinusoidal Sound Art Show at rounds out this musical tour of re- acteristics of the plate and the State University; the cent alternate controllers by illus- computer’s processing of the elec- Audio Art Festival in Krakow, Po- trating the beautiful mystery by tronic signal. land; and the Sound Symposium in which improvising performers can I originally began experimenting St. John’s, Newfoundland. He was efficiently and effectively communi- with metal plates as an attempt to twice a prizewinner at the Bourges cate with each other in concert. As introduce ‘‘extra-sonic’’ elements International they improvise on various instru- into composition. Competition for his sound installa- ments of their own design, Mr. Cook By ‘‘extra-sonic,’’ I am referring to tions, and his sound installation re- and interface reveal a wonderfully or- those elements—physical, cultural, ceived an honorary mention at the ganic shaping of their materials. (For personal—that are often absent Prix Ars Electronica 2001. a review of the new recording by in- when one listens to a piece of tape Ted Apel studied electroacoustic terface, please see Computer Music music. What began as a response music at with Journal 27[1]:100–101.) to a specific problem in electronic Jon Appleton and Larry Polansky. He Although originally presented as music (the lack of contextual ele- is currently the Technical Director an installation, Manuel Rocha Itur- ments) has evolved into my of the Center for Research in Com- bide’s Rebicycling was reconstructed broader interest in investigating puting in the Arts (CRCA) at the by the composer as a separate work the relationship between the vi- University of California, San Diego. for projected images and quadra- sual and sonic elements of sound phonic tape. Haunting in its juxtapo- sculpture. By refocusing attention sition of image and sound, the work onto the sounding object itself, questions our notions of waste and this installation prompts us to 2. (after)—Benjamin Broening neglect while challenging the peace- consider the factors of temporality 1. Night’s Black Bird (after ful coexistence of stasis and motion. and mutability involved in its cy- Dowland) For several years, Ted Apel has been clical and continual processes. 2. Beata Viscera (after Byrd) making elegant, minimalist sound Surface Osculations (1998) in- sculptures that explore the physical volves a dialog between the rich These two movements are the first transduction of sound. The present sonic and visual textures of the in a series of pieces that re-imagine footage from his sound sculpture plates. The viewer/listener’s per- the music of my youth in light of Surface Osculations subtly under- ception is formed as the visual and my current musical life. I came to scores the physical nature of sound aural senses inform one another. these pieces at an early age, while as two large suspended plates, in The of the sounds may be growing up as a singer interested feedback with a computer that is perceived as ‘‘metallic’’ and ‘‘dif- in early music. Although my love processing the sound each plate fuse’’; these perceptions are en- for singing and early music eventu- makes, gently begin to push each hanced by one’s understanding of ally gave way to composition, this other back and forth. the physical qualities of the plate, music remains close to my heart. such as the characteristics of its In re-imagining these pieces, I size and surface. The visual ele- wanted to stay close to the me- 1. Surface Osculations— ments can be thought of as medi- lodic outlines and harmonic mo- Ted Apel ating the sounds and the human tion of the originals—to be able to cognition of the sounds. Two large, sound-producing metal sing along—while exploring a plates are suspended from the ceil- Ted Apel is a sound artist whose sound world unavailable in 16th- ing. Viewers/listeners move freely sculptures and installations focus on and 17th-century England. Major around and between the plates to the audio transducing element as the points of structural articulation are experience a constantly changing source of visual and sonic material. preserved, as are many local de- sonic and visual environment. He has exhibited his work at sound tails, but other passages are, per- Sound from each plate is transmit- art festivals and exhibits including haps, more hazily recalled. Thus, ted electronically to a computer, the SoundCulture 96 festival in San the pieces maintain a fallible fidel- which in turn processes and re- Francisco; the Ussachevsky Festival ity to their precursors and raise turns the signal to the plate. The in Claremont, California; the EarArt questions about the nature of mu-

122 Computer Music Journal

Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/014892603322730541 by guest on 28 September 2021 sical memory. The work was com- 3. Copper Islands—Kristine H. Birmingham Art Music Alliance, and posed in 2003. Burns SEAMUS and SCI National Confer- ences. Benjamin Broening’s compositions Copper Islands is the third in a se- have been widely performed and ries of ‘‘metal’’ compositions. The broadcast across the United States composition represents an abstract and in and Asia. He has writ- distillate of a symbiotic relation- 4. Noisegate 67—Matthew ten works for many media, including ship between metallic sounds Burtner orchestral, choral, chamber, and elec- (both synthesized and sampled) Noisegate 67 (1999) was the first troacoustic music. Recent pieces in- and largely monochromatic syn- piece written for the computer me- clude a work for clarinet and thesized video. Both the music and tasaxophone (www.metasax.com), commissioned by the Band and Or- video were realized by the com- a tenor saxophone with an on- chestral Division of Yamaha Corpo- poser in her home studio (Home- board computer microprocessor lo- ration of America for Arthur stead, Florida) in 2002–2003. cated on the bell communicating Campbell, a work for clarinet and with an array of sensors positioned electronics for F. Gerard Errante and Composer and author Kristine H. over the body of the instrument. a choral/orchestral work for the Con- Burns is Director of the Electronic The sensors allow continuously necticut Choral Society and the Music Studios at the Florida Interna- changing performance data such as Grace Choral Society of Brooklyn. tional University School of Music in saxophone position, finger pres- Other recent commissions include a Miami. She has previously served on sure, etc., to control live electron- cantata for the Charlotte Symphony the faculties of both Dartmouth Col- ics. Noisegate 67 takes advantage and the Oratorio Singers of Char- lege and the Oberlin College Conser- of the interactive nature of the in- lotte, a clarinet concerto for the In- vatory of Music. As the owner and strument by exploring controlled terlochen Arts Academy Wind editor of WOW/EM, Women On open form. The beginning and end Ensemble, a multi-media cantata for the Web/ElectronMedia of the piece are notated completely Hampton-Sydney College, chamber (music.dartmouth.edu/ϳwowem), in time whereas the middle sec- works for Quorum Chamber Arts she has created an award-winning tion is a network of possible paths Collective and Currents new music educational Web site for young through which the performer can ensemble as well as works for the women interested in creative digital freely move, dramatically shaping Arts Now Series at North Carolina media, as well as science, math, and the formal sound-energy structure State University and the James River computers. Burns’s scores and re- of the music. Singers. A recipient of the Presser cordings are published and distrib- Originating in breath, a counter- Music Award, Broening has also re- uted by Tuba-Euphonium Press, point of layered noise materials is ceived recognition and awards from Frogpeak Music, and Seeland Re- controlled in real time by both the the American Composers Forum, cords. Her book Women and Music metasaxophone interface and au- from the Norfolk and Bowdoin in the US Since 1900: an Encyclope- dio signal. A melody is constructed Chamber music festivals, as well as dia (Greenwood Press, 2002) has from the noise and its energy from Yale, Christ’s College, Cam- been touted as ‘‘an essential refer- amasses throughout the composi- bridge, University of Michigan, and ence tool . . . Highly recommended.’’ tion, ultimately leading to a frac- the University of Richmond. His Her intermedia compositions have turing of the saxophone signal and music can be heard on the Equilib- been performed throughout North the generation of sine waves. rium and Centaur labels and is forth- and South America, Europe, and coming on the SEAMUS label. Asia, including the 2003 Interna- Matthew Burtner is currently Assis- Broening is Assistant Professor of tional Festival of Women in Music tant Professor of Composition and Music and Director of Music Tech- (Seoul), the Third Practice Festival Computer Music at the University of nology at the University of Rich- (Richmond, VA), the Florida Electro- Virginia where he is Associate Direc- mond where he hosts the Third Acoustic Music Festival (Gaines- tor of the VCCM Computer Music Practice Festival of Electro-Acoustic ville), the Helsinki Museum of Art, Center. He studied philosophy, com- Music. He holds degrees from the the International Society of Bassists, position, saxophone and computer University of Michigan, Cambridge the International Congress of music at St. Johns College, Tulane University, Yale University, and Women in Music (Vienna), the FU- University (BFA 1993), Iannis Xe- Wesleyan University. TURA Festival (Drome, ), the nakis’s UPIC Studios (1993–1994),

DVD Program Notes 123

Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/014892603322730541 by guest on 28 September 2021 the Peabody Institute of the Johns Daf percussion by Mohsen Kassi- Tempo. He has been a tenured Hopkins University (MM 1997), and rossafar and a Nej flute by Abdul- professor of electroacoustic music at ’s CCRMA lah Mohammad. The idea is that the Conservatory of Catania (Ist. (DMA 2002). He has been composer- of creating a new electroacoustic, Mus. V. Bellini) since 1995. in-residence at the Banff Centre for virtual, ritual space for religious the Arts, Simon Fraser University in chant. This space is created by pro- Vancouver, and the IUA/Phonos In- cessing the same sounds and rein- 6. DigitalDoo2003—Perry Cook stitute in Barcelona. tegrating them into the new The DigitalDoo is a traditional ab- First-prize winner in the Musica sound-space. As in an imaginative original didgeridoo, enhanced with Nova International Electroacoustic and emotive theater, my desire is various electronic sensors, signal- Music Competition, Burtner’s music to stage these sonic streams, to processing circuits, and a six- has also received honors or awards generate imaginative ritual spaces channel hemispherical from Meet the Composer, ASCAP, in a new form. I would not define loudspeaker. It allows the capture the American Music Center, the Al Nur (La Luce) as ‘‘concert hall’’ and processing of the sounds from Luigi Russolo International Com- music; the true ritual space in this the didgeridoo and the control of puter Music Competition, the Gau- case is within oneself. The space various synthetic sound sources. deamus International Young becomes the ‘‘I’’ who is listening. DigitalDoo2003 features Jesse Stile Composers Competition, the Hult- The piece was realized at Edison (video), Michael Rabinovich (Hap- gren International Cello Biennial, Studio, Rome. Courtesy of Com- tic Glove), and students from the Darmstadt, Prix d’Ete, SCI, and oth- pagnia Nuove Indye, Rome, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute ers. His music has been commis- www.cnimusic.it. (soundscapes). This recording was sioned for performers such as the Alessandro Cipriani (b. 1959) com- realized as part of a residency and Spectri Sonori Ensemble, MiN En- pleted his studies in music composi- performance supported by the Arts semble, Phyllis Bryn Julson and tion and electroacoustic music at the Department and the School of Mark Markham, the Peabody Trio, Conservatorio S. Cecilia in Rome. Humanities and Social Sciences, Ascolto, Ensemble Noise, Haleh He studied for a time with Barry Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Abghari, and others. His commercial Truax. Since 1989 he has worked on 23 April 2003, at the iEAR Studios. recordings include Incantations on intermedia pieces, audio-video multi- Perry Cook is currently Associate the German DACO label (DACO channel/interactive installations, Professor of Computer Science, with 102), Portals of Distortion, on Innova pieces for instruments and tape, elec- a joint appointment in Music, at Records (Innova 526), and Arctic troacoustic pieces with oral tradition Princeton University, researching Contrasts, on the Norwegian Eurid- singers and soundtracks for film- sound synthesis and control, audi- ice label (EUCD 012–2000). documentaries integrating an ad- tory display, and immersive sound vanced concept of fusion between environments. He received a BA in dialogue, soundscape, and music. His music from the University of Mis- 5. Al Nur (La Luce)—Alessandro works have received honors and have souri at Kansas City (UMKC) Con- Cipriani been selected for performance at servatory of Music, a BSEE from the This is a unique 5.1-channel ver- Bourges, Government of Canada UMKC College of Engineering, and a sion of Al Nur (La Luce) (2003), Award, International Computer Mu- Masters and PhD in EE from Stan- specially realized for this DVD. sic Conference (1994, 1995, 1999, ford University. He served as Techni- The piece is part of a trilogy on re- 2002), ISEA, Musica Nova (Praha), cal Director for the Stanford Center ligious chant: Aqua Sapientiae/ Newcomp (USA), EMS (), for Computer Research in Music and Angelus Domini (Gregorian chant Inventionen (Berlin), Nuova Conson- Acoustics, and he has consulted and ), Mimaa’ Makim (Jewish chant), anza (Rome), Festival di Ravenna, worked in the areas of DSP, image and Al Nur (La Luce) (Islamic Engine 27 (New York), etc. He pub- compression, music synthesis, and chant). All the sounds in the piece lished several CDs (Edipan, ICMC speech processing for NeXT, Media come from recording and process- 1995 and 1999, CNI, etc.) and the Vision, Interval Research, and other ing of sounds from an Islamic textbook Virtual Sound on sound companies. He has published over 90 chant titled Al Nur (‘‘The Light’’) synthesis and signal processing with papers and two books, and presented sung by Berberian singer Nour- Csound in collaboration with Ric- lectures throughout the world on the Eddine Fatty, played with Zarb and cardo Bianchini published by Con- acoustics of the voice and musical

124 Computer Music Journal

Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/014892603322730541 by guest on 28 September 2021 instrument simulation, human per- present innumerable impediments. bow (see music.princeton.edu/ϳdan/ ception of sound, and interactive de- With an emphasis on promoting and BoSSA). Their instruments are dy- vices for expressive musical perturbing existing social contexts namic, changing constantly from performance. He has performed as a for music making, interface explores performance to performance and vocal soloist and as a computer mu- these questions and, in the process, within performances. sician throughout the world, and makes a new kind of multimedia Growing out of their interest in has recorded compact discs on the performance art, one that involves the relationships between body, so- Lyricord Early Music Series Record instruments new and old and reflects cial context, and electronic sound, Label with the vocal group Schola cultures as disparate as Japanese interface has invented and fabricated Discantus. dance, Norwegian fiddle music, Jazz, a group of multi-channel spherical and electronica. and hemispherical speaker arrays interface creates spontaneous that radiate sound in all directions. 7. Performance Excerpts— sonic textures ranging from delicate These experimental speakers fill interface imperceptible noise to a high-energy rooms differently than conventional walls of sound: ‘‘Sounding like PA-style sound systems, blending Excerpt #1 flames igniting a fuzzy nylon carpet live acoustic performance and elec- Curtis Bahn, sensor-bass; or someone munching a mouthful of tronic sources with a clear natural Dan Trueman, sensor-violin needles,’’ writes Robin Edgerton of sound. Their ‘‘instrumental-like’’ Video installation by Jesse Stiles Time Out New York. Bahn and True- presence suggests a kind of intimacy This recording was realized as part of man have extended, surrounded, and normally associated with acoustic a residency and performance sup- obscured their electric stringed in- instruments and chamber music. ported by the Arts Department and struments with a variety of technolo- This work has been presented at the the School of Humanities and Social gies, creating organic, gesturally International Computer Music Con- Sciences, Rensselaer Polytechnic In- powerful computer music. Bahn, a ferences in Berlin and Beijing, the stitute, 22 April 2003, at the iEAR professor of interactive music perfor- Acoustical Society of America, at the Studios. mance in the ‘‘Integrated Electronic Computer/Human interaction con- Arts’’ program at the Rensselaer ference CHI2001 in Seattle, and else- Excerpt #2 iEAR studios, plays his ‘‘Sensor where (for full text and information Dan Trueman, BoSSA (The Bass,’’ a 5-string ‘‘vertical bass’’ (like see ‘‘Alternative Voices for Elec- Bowed-Sensor-Speaker-Array) an acoustic bass with no body) fitted tronic Sound’’ www.music. Video installation by Jesse Stiles ϳ This recording was realized as part of with electrical pickups, motion, columbia.edu/ dan/alt_voices). a residency and performance sup- touch and pressure sensors which al- interface has performed through- ported by the Arts Department and low him to ‘‘drive’’ his interactive out the Northeast and abroad, re- the School of Humanities and Social computer algorithms during perfor- cently appearing at the New York Sciences, Rensselaer Polytechnic In- mance. Trueman, who teaches at Interactive Music Festival, the Inter- stitute, 22 April 2003, at the iEAR Princeton University, plays a 6-string national Computer Music Festival in Studios. electric violin and an sensor-bow of Thessaloniki, Greece, and the Soci- his own design; the R-Bow is a nor- ety for Electroacoustic Music in the interface is a multi-media perfor- mal violin bow covered with motion U.S. (SEAMUS) festival. They have mance ensemble formed in 1995 and pressure sensors that send per- given lectures and concerts at major by electronic music composer- formance information to a computer academic institutions including the performers Curtis Bahn and Dan performance system. The group also MIT Media Lab, Brown, Princeton, Trueman. At the center of all of in- features a number of new musical in- Peabody, Rensselaer Polytechnic In- terface’s work is a concern with the terfaces which are in constant devel- stitute, and Columbia, and have per- body. What is the physical relation- opment including Trueman’s formed in many alternative spaces ship between the body, sound, im- award-winning Bowed Sensor/ including the Kitchen, Knitting Fac- age, and technology? How can this Speaker Array, or BoSSA, a spherical tory, Here, Context, and Tonic in relationship be as engaging as possi- speaker with an attached violin fin- Mew York, Mobius and Zeitgeist in ble, for both performer and audience? gerboard bristling with sensors Boston, Voix and RRRecords in Low- New technologies offer possibilities which is held in the lap like a small ell, Massachussetts. They have per- to reinvent this relationship, but also cello and played with a sensor-based formed individually or together with

DVD Program Notes 125

Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/014892603322730541 by guest on 28 September 2021 a wide range of artists including: Eve The purpose of this sound instal- category of composition for instru- Beglarian, Warren Burt, Chris Brown, lation work is to confront these ments and electronics and tape Perry Cook, Steve Mackey, Richard two opposed paradoxical states alone. He has received commissions Lerhman, Virgil Moorefield, Tom (still bicycles against bicycle from the Festival Internacional Cer- Hamilton, and others. wheels moving sounds), hoping to vantino and other venues and has re- spell out entropy from these ago- ceived artistic grants such as Jovenes nizing beings and giving them new Creadores from FONCA and the potential energy and hopefulness Banff Center for the Arts. Besides 8. Rebicycling—Manuel Rocha for survival. composing, he has realized sound in- Iturbide This work was originally devel- stallations, sound sculptures and in- oped as a sound installation (with termedia art works presented at Thousands of bicycles circulate four small amplified speakers and important international galleries and through the streets of every bicycles lying in the floor) and pre- museums. In 2000, he was a recipi- day. It is quite remarkable to ob- sented in the SURGE gallery in ent of a Foundation Fellow- serve their disordered behavior as Tokyo. In 2001, I decided to realize ship. Manuel Rocha Iturbide lives well as the existence of great chaos another version of this work for when these locomotive vehicles currently in Mexico City, where he concert with the same sound in a are parked. Yet, it is even more works as composer and sound artist, four-track speaker system but with striking to discover that many bi- and where he is the curator of the In- still images of abandoned bicycles cycles are abandoned in the city. ternational Sound Art Festival. He instead of the real bicycles on the Do some people steal bicycles to also teaches computer music at the floor. get home after missing the train? UAEM University. Or do people just leave bicycles on Born in 1963 in Mexico City, Man- the streets because they will buy a uel Rocha Iturbide studied composi- new one? The truth is that in the tion at the Escuela Nacional de 9. Free Reeds—Paul Koonce middle of continuous and organic Mu´ sica at the University of Mexico. In what might appear an unsettling movement, there are many bicy- He received an MFA in electronic move from mouth to hands, Free cles that suddenly stop their daily music and composition from Mills Reeds (2002) takes the familiar transit and stay parked for weeks College (1991), where he studied or months at the same spot. with Alvin Curran, Anthony Brax- icon of the harmonica player and The police occasionally take ton, and David Rosenboom. He took reconstructs it using data gloves some of these abandoned vehicles a one-year course in composition and and computer sound synthesis. Us- and pile them in a corner, or place computer music at IRCAM. In 1992, ing homemade, bend-sensor gloves, them in a special bicycle parking he started his doctoral thesis on the work translates the movement lot, but in spite of this, thousands techniques with of the performer’s ten fingers into of bicycles are becoming trash in Horacio Vaggione at the University separate MIDI control signals that, Tokyo. These transportation ob- of Paris VIII. In 1993, he won a grant once inside the sound-synthesis jects have a potential capacity of from the Mexican cultural founda- language, SuperCollider, link the being used, and yet, they have sud- tion to compose three electroacous- performer with a sample-based al- denly gained a state of entropy, a tic pieces at UPIC, GRM, and gorithm designed to simulate the state of complete and chaotic still- IRCAM. He worked as a researcher sound and control of a real har- ness. at IRCAM developing GiST (1994– monica. Familiar parameters of Natural living rhythms exist in 1995) and later as a professor at the harmonica performance are con- organic life, as when we go to University of Paris VIII where he nected to separate fingers, with sleep every night but then get up taught synthesis and computer pro- breath pressure linked to the fin- the next day. However, what gramming (1995–1996). In 1996 and gers of the right hand (five separate would happen if we suddenly fall 1997, he was nominated at Bourges reeds), and lip bend, vocal cavity into a coma? A clear drama is pro- in the categories of program tape coloration, hand vibrato, flutter- duced when we have potential sta- music and tape with instruments re- tongue, and reverb linked to the sis and movement within the same spectively, and in 1996 and 1997 he fingers of the left hand. In perfor- being, but one of the two stops won the second prize at the Russolo mance, the computer serves up a working. Electronic Music Contest in the succession of five-note chords of

126 Computer Music Journal

Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/014892603322730541 by guest on 28 September 2021 predetermined duration, which the lege. His music is available on the Museum (Lincoln, Massachussetts), performer plays or improvises SEAMUS, Mnemosyne, ICMA, Pano- the 9th New York Digital Salon, the within depending upon their skills, rama, Innova, Einstein, Centaur, and 2003 Art in Motion screenings, Im- goals, and/or planning. Free Reeds Mode records labels. He is currently ages du Nouveau Monde, CynetArts, was developed in this environ- on the faculty of the University of Sonic Circuits, the Cuban Interna- ment, growing out of a series of Florida. tional Festival of Music, and the improvisations, one of which I se- 2003 New England Film and Video lected to be the basis for the final Festival. His work was also pre- work. To remind me how to repro- sented at SIGGRAPH 2001 in the 10. faktura—Dennis H. Miller duce the chord events of this im- Emerging Technologies gallery. Re- provisation, I created a mnemonic faktura (2003) is a mixed-media cent exhibits of his 3D still images computer score of graphs and de- work in which a virtual environ- include the Boston Computer Mu- scriptions programmed to scroll by ment is created for the viewer to seum and the Biannual Conference as the work progresses. While this explore. Morphing, evolving, ab- on Art and Technology, as well as score assists me in giving different stract objects appear accompanied publication in Sonic Graphics: performances a recognizable by evocative music that directs the Seeing Sound, published by Rizzoli course and sound, its cryptic anno- affect of each scene. The visual Books. Miller’s music and tations nonetheless keep me con- material of faktura was created artworks are available at nected to the work’s with the POVray scene description www.dennismiller.neu.edu. improvisational origin, and the de- language (www.povray.org). Spe- light of rediscovering the instru- cific techniques include the use of ment’s precarious and volatile morphing isosurfaces and the ap- domain of sound. plication of control parameters ex- 11. Resonant Image—Adrian tracted from preexisting sequences Moore Paul Koonce (b. 1956, USA) studied of bitmap files, specifically to con- Resonant Image (2003) is an ab- composition at the University of Illi- trol the motion of new, synthetic stract surround sound and video nois, and the University of Califor- images. Sonic Foundry Acoustic piece. Theories, meanings, and nia, San Diego, where he received a Mirror and the Symbolic Sound uses of the word ‘‘resonance’’ fasci- Kyma System were used for the PhD in Music. His music focuses nate me. Resonant systems often music. upon issues of representation and involve finding a point where The Russian term faktura has a perception in electroacoustic sound. equal and opposite forces work to- variety of meanings, including one As a software developer, he has ex- gether. At the same time, we published in the 1923 Constructiv- plored the invention of computer know most systems leak energy, ist manifesto: ‘‘manner of con- technologies for the manipulation of so we must continue to supply en- struction.’’ Other definitions sound and timbre, developing tools ergy. The word applied to the hu- include ‘‘surface quality’’ and ‘‘tex- for exploring the parallels between man world of thoughts, feelings, ture.’’ musical and environmental sound and desires often allows us to feel phenomena. He is the recipient of Dennis Miller received his Doctorate ‘‘connected’’ without necessarily fellowships from the Guggenheim in Music Composition from Colum- knowing why. As a metaphor for and McKnight Foundations, and has bia University and is on the Music connecting with music and image received awards and commissions faculty of Northeastern University in (sound and light energy), this word from the Luigi Russolo International Boston. Miller is also an Associate is ideal. Competition for Composers of Elec- Editor of Electronic Musician maga- Sound and image are drawn from tronic Music, the National Flute As- zine, for which he writes about mu- a variety of sources both natural sociation, Prix Ars Electronica sic software and hardware and synthetic. Images of the ele- Electronic Arts Competition, the technologies. ments are colored with the full Electroacoustic Music Contest of Sa˜o Since 1998, Miller has been active spectrum of light. The majority of Paulo, the Bourges International as a graphic artist and 3D animator. the sounds stem from recordings of Competition, the International Com- His animations have been shown at traditional western instruments puter Music Association, and the numerous venues throughout the that are treated to within the bor- Hopkins Center of Dartmouth Col- world, most recently the DeCordova ders of noise or filtered towards

DVD Program Notes 127

Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/014892603322730541 by guest on 28 September 2021 pure tones. The majority of the 12. terra incognita—Allan way, and France. Her unusual award- sound is in stereo but the sur- Schindler (composer) and winning animated works are round, center, and low-frequency Stephanie Maxwell (animator) exhibited in international film festi- speakers (in the 5.1 mix) work to vals and television programs and col- reinforce the potency of certain This collaboratively conceived and lected by American and European moments and give an added di- realized film/ museums as works of art. (2001) presents an ever-changing mension to the perceived three- flux and paradox in perceived dimensionality of some of the space and location involving no- visual images. Resonant Image tions of navigation, geometry, and 13. Molly—Alicyn Warren was mixed in Samplitude and mapping. The animated imagery Adobe Premiere in 2003 at the This digital video provides an in- was derived from hand paintings composer’s home studio. All foot- tensely personal and at times hu- and etchings on 35-mm motion age was shot in PAL format on a morous consideration of picture film. During subsequent Canon XM2. Manipulation of frightening topics—aging, illness, digital editing, the film was physi- sound used programs on both Mac- death—and affirms life’s precious cally bent, twisted, rotated, and intosh and PC. Images were ma- impermanence. A light-hearted treated to a number of hands-on and straightforward opening intro- nipulated using effects in Premiere manipulations. The basic musical and Artmatic on the Macintosh. duces my aging canine companion, sound sources include mbira, bam- Molly; an extended center section, Adrian Moore first came into contact boo pipe, gamelan metallophone, based on a large group of family with electroacoustic music in his and vocal phoneme samples digi- photographs and documents, hometown of Nottingham at a con- tally transformed by Csound, gran- reaches back through several de- cert given by Denis Smalley. He ulation, SMS, phase vocoding cades to my family’s farm life in studied initially at City University, algorithms, cross synthesis, and al- rural Michigan in the 1920s. London, then under Jonty Harrison gorithmic compositional proce- Events from my 1960s suburban at the University of Birmingham dures, then contrapuntally layered, childhood are recounted, including where he composed for and working intercut, and threaded into pulsat- the accidental death of our family with BEAST (Birmingham Electro- ing ‘‘spider web’’ designs suggested dog, and my mother’s early death Acoustic Sound Theatre). He gradu- by the visual imagery. from cancer. A pivotal theme of ated in 1998 but his seven years in Allan Schindler is Professor of Com- the piece is the use of recorded im- Birmingham were interspersed with position and Director of the Com- ages, both visual and aural, as a trips to CNSM (Lyon, France, 1991– puter Music Center at the Eastman means of embracing the present, 1992) and ZKM (Karlsruhe, Ger- School of Music. Several of his even as it inexorably becomes the many, 1995). computer-generated and acoustic past. Having always held an interest in compositions are available in North Because I am especially inter- bringing the power of the tape me- American and European commercial ested in the interaction of sound dium into the live performance situ- releases and in score and moving visual images, it was ation as well as to sound diffusion, publications. Schindler also has very important to me to work on Adrian Moore sees the technology of served as music editor and consul- both aspects of the piece at once. today as an ideal tool with which to tant for several large academic, trade Despite the presence of images, work as a composer, teacher, and and music publishing houses, includ- the radiophonic treatment of the performer. He is currently Lecturer ing McGraw-Hill, Random House, human voice is similar to that in Music at Sheffield University and Alfred A. Knopf. found in dramatic works for sound where he is the director of the Uni- alone. Molly (1998) received a Fi- nalist Prize in the video category versity Sheffield Sound Studios Stephanie Maxwell received her of the Bourges 26th International (USSS, www.shef.ac.uk/usss). He is Masters of Fine Arts degree in film at Electroacoustic Music Competi- also a director of Sonic Arts Net- the San Francisco Art Institute. She tion. work, the UK’s national organization is Associate Professor in the School for the promotion of creative use of of Film and Animation at the Roch- Alicyn Warren is a composer who technology in the composition and ester Institute of Technology, and also writes about electronic and film performance of music. she has also taught in England, Nor- music. She is a graduate of Columbia

128 Computer Music Journal

Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/014892603322730541 by guest on 28 September 2021 University and Princeton University, channel composition by Mr. tubes of 20 cm and 50 cm (a length where she earned a doctorate in com- Tutschku entitled Migration pe´tre´e. ratio of 2.5). position. She has received grants and This portion of the disc concludes 4†. Idem, tubes of 25 cm and 50 cm prizes from the National Endowment with sound examples of the clavi- (ratio of 2). for the Arts, the American Musicol- chord physical model of Vesa Va¨li- ogical Society, the Mellon Founda- ma¨ki, Mikael Laurson, and Cumhur 5†. Idem, tubes of 10 cm and 50 cm tion, and the Bourges International Erkut. (ratio of 5). The conical tube of the Electroacoustic Music Competition saxophone is then perceptually ap- (two prizes, 1991 and 1999). Her 1. Sound Examples to Accompany proached, and a change of mode is works have been performed and the Article ‘‘A Physical Model of a obtained when the pressure in the broadcast in the USA, the UK, Can- Single-Reed Wind Instrument, In- mouth is gradually decreased. ada, Latin America, Africa, Asia, and cluding Actions of the Player’’ by Europe, and are recorded on the Cen- Eric Ducasse (Volume 27, Number 1) 6–8*. Effects of phrasing with the taur and Le Chant du Monde labels. tongue on a resonator of the type The sounds created ten years ago Alicyn Warren has taught com- ‘‘radiator not connected to the pipes at IRCAM are marked with the sym- puter music, composition, and film of the central heating.’’ The presence music at and bol ‘‘*,’’ and the more recent simula- of tubes in arches is only slightly the University of Virginia. In Fall tions, carried out in Mathematica, perceptible during the attack tran- 2001, she joined the faculty at the are marked with the symbol ‘‘†.’’ sient (lower resonances). The sound level was normalized for University of Michigan, with a joint 9*. Sound obtained with a cylindrical each sound, and thus there is no appointment in the School of Music tube having a single tone hole. After common reference for the sound and the School of Art and Design. clear closing/opening motion, the levels. key moves away very gradually from Part Two: Sound Examples 1*. This squeak with attack was one the hole to obtain a glissando effect, of the first sounds obtained on a cy- with a fall in the quality of emission In addition to the compositions of lindrical tube without tone holes and similar to that obtained on a real in- Part One, described above, the disc shows that a still rather rudimentary strument. features sound examples to accom- model gives a high level of realism, 10*. Same motion of key as for the pany articles appearing in Volume 27 because all the major elements of the of the Journal. Each individual sound sound of Track 9, but the player does instrument are modeled. not blow. This emphasizes the audi- example has been encoded as a sepa- tory effect created by the air volume rate DVD chapter, so one may navi- 2†. On a cylindrical tube of length 50 displacement owing to the motion of gate forward and backward through cm and radius 7.5 mm, with a funda- the key. the examples using the Next and mental frequency of 170 Hz, one ob- Previous Chapter buttons on any tains three abnormal modes 11*. Small melody played legato on a DVD player or remote control. Alter- (approximately 1520 Hz near the clarinet with five tone holes. The natively, the sound examples will ninth partial of the tube, then 1190 fast succession of open/close finger- automatically play in sequence with Hz near the seventh partial, then 870 ings emphasizes a characteristic of a short pause between each. Hz near the fifth partial) while vary- the clarinet’s timbre. Eric Ducasse contributed examples ing in time the damping G of the of his single-reed instrument physi- 12*. Chromatic scale on a virtual in- reed plus lower lip. The damping fac- strument built with the dimensions cal model. Rajmil Fischman’s com- G G tor varies linearly from 0.005 max of a real instrument. Twenty tone positional mapping of aspects of to Gmax on the time interval 0–2.025 holes were modeled. The relatively quantum physics concludes with a sec and then goes down linearly to poor result is explained by the total composition he wrote entitled Er- 0.005Gmax during 2.025–4.05 sec. It absence of phrasing. win’s Playground. Kelly Fitz et al. should be noted that there is no contributed sound examples of a new change of mode during the decrease 13* and 14*. The theme from Henry sound-morphing technique, and of G. Mancini’s ‘‘The Pink Panther’’ per- Ketty Nez’s interview of composer formed piano and then forte by a be- Hans Tutschku in Volume 27, Num- 3†. Pressure signal in the mouthpiece ginner clarinetist on a virtual bass ber 4 is accompanied by a recent 5.1- for a transverse saxophone with clarinet.

DVD Program Notes 129

Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/014892603322730541 by guest on 28 September 2021 15*. ‘‘The Pink Panther’’ with an ab- 10. Crystal F#: rubbing the edge of a mum, and then descends back, de- normally hard tongue. glass cup, pitch F-sharp. creasing its energy until it reaches 11. Crystal G#: rubbing the edge of a the lowest shell again. This may also 16*. ‘‘The Pink Panther’’ with an ab- glass cup, pitch G-sharp. be viewed as an excursion through normally sticking tongue. When the 12. Squeak1: un-oiled wheels of a the Periodic Table of the Elements tongue jams the reed, one perceives trolley. according to ascending order of the noise of the air volume displace- 13. Crystal Bb to Squeak: transition atomic number, followed by a corre- ment created by the motion of the from pitch to squeak achieved by sponding descent. The sonic material keys. rubbing the glass cup with different is generated by applying the proba- 17*. Detached sound produced by a degrees of pressure. bility distributions obtained from Cicadas saxophone-type instrument with 14. : recording of real cicadas. Schro¨ dinger’s Equation to granular overblowing on the low fingerings. techniques, which are ideally suited D-Shell Music The pressure of the lower lip varies for stochastic processing of musical 15. Excerpt from D-shell music. periodically. material. According to Schro¨ dinger’s Equa- 18*. Fluctuating sound owing to Sources for F Shell tion, there are four possible types of strong variations in the player’s 16. Waves1: recordings of sea waves energy shells found in the Periodic pinching and breath on a conical in- gargling through rocks. Table, labeled S, P, D and F.InEr- 17. Motorway1: recording of a busy strument, with overblowing on the win’s Playground, these are differen- motorway. low fingerings. tiated by means of two main 18. PBg1f: recording of a frying pan strategies. The first of these consists that was hit or rubbed against other 19*. Legato sound on a conical in- of using source sounds with common objects. strument, with overblowing on the timbral attributes for each shell as 19. PbdLow: recording of a piece of low fingerings. follows. S shells were assigned plywood that was bent at a more or mainly vocal sounds. P shells were 20*. A conical instrument with less regular rate. strong instability on some fingerings. assigned three different types of F-Shell Music sound, which, nevertheless, share 2. Sound Examples to Accompany some common spectral characteris- 20. Excerpt from F-shell music. the Article ‘‘Clouds, Pyramids and tics: the buzz of a fly, a vocal Diamonds: Applying Schro¨ dinger’s Complete Work ‘‘buzz,’’ and the sound of a sparkling Equation to Granular Synthesis and 21. Erwin’s Playground (9’12’’). welder. D shells were assigned Compositional Structure’’ by Rajmil The name of this work is an allu- sounds that range from pitch to Fischman (Volume 27, Number 2) sion to Erwin Schro¨ dinger, one of the squeaks, including a recording of the pitched sound of cicadas as an inter- Sources for S Shell pioneers of quantum mechanics, and mediate stage. Finally, F shells were 1. MonoC1: vocal sound. his imaginary field of action, namely, normally associated with local and 2. Uba: vocal sound. the inner shells of the atom. Its mu- sical material and its structure arise global climaxes; therefore, they 3. UlulowL: vocal sound. from the solutions and implications spread through a wider bandwidth by S-Shell Music of an equation discovered by Schro¨- means of three spectral types. The 4. Excerpt from S-shell music. dinger, which became a well-known first type consists of noise-based cornerstone of quantum mechanics sounds, obtained from recordings of Sources for P Shell and succeeded in explaining for the sea waves gargling through rocks and 5. DieFly: buzz of a real fly. first time the structure of the Peri- a busy motorway. The second is me- 6. BUZZ: vocal ‘‘buzz.’’ odic Table of the Elements. tallic. The third consists of low- 7. Welder: sparkling welder. The structure of Erwin’s Play- frequency textures and drones P-Shell Music ground (2001) is modeled on a survey created from the recording of a piece of plywood. 8. Excerpt from P shell music. through various atomic energy lev- els, or shells, predicted by the equa- The second strategy consists of the Sources for D Shell tion. It begins at the lowest energy use of different granular attributes 9. Crystal Eb: rubbing the edge of a level, leaps to higher shells as this for different sections (e.g., duration, glass cup, pitch E-flat. energy increases, reaches a maxi- envelope, spatial location, and using

130 Computer Music Journal

Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/014892603322730541 by guest on 28 September 2021 different distributions to generate tone. Even-numbered harmonics of 4. Cat and trombone morphing ex- amplitude and duration). the cello tone are morphed with ample. A four-note flutter-tongued Erwin’s Playground was created flute harmonics (the cello’s second trombone phrase is morphed with a with AL and ERWIN, public-domain harmonic with the flute’s fundamen- cat’s meow using the Loris modules software developed by the composer tal, the cello’s fourth with the flute’s for Csound. Even-numbered harmon- to enable the application of Schro¨- second, etc.). Odd-numbered cello ics of the cat’s meow are morphed dinger’s Equation to the generation harmonics have no corresponding with trombone harmonics (the cat’s of granular clouds. It was selected as partial in the flute tone and are sim- second harmonic with the trom- one of the finalists in the ‘‘electro- ply cross-faded. bone’s fundamental, the cat’s fourth acoustic tape music without instru- with the trombone’s second, etc.). ment’’ category at the 29th Bourges cello original Odd-numbered cat harmonics, in- International Competition, 2002. It cello reconstruction cluding the fundamental, have no was also a finalist in the Fourth In- (pause) corresponding partial in the trom- ternational Contemporary Music flute original bone phrase and are simply cross- Contest ‘‘Citta` di Udine.’’ flute reconstruction faded. The composer is grateful to the (pause) Arts and Humanities Research Board cello-to-flute morph trombone original (AHRB), UK, for its support in the flute-to-cello morph trombone reconstructions, unmo- form of a Research Leave Award, (pause) dified and with time-warping which made possible the realization cello-to-flute morph (pause) of the project leading to the composi- flute-to-cello morph cat original tion of this work. cat reconstructions, unmodified, 3. Real-time sound morphing exam- reversed, and with time-warping 3. Sound Examples to Accompany ple. Eight-way sound morphing is (pause) the Article ‘‘Cell-Utes and Flutter- performed in real time on Symbolic morphs from trombone to cat Tongued Cats: Sound Morphing Sound Corporation’s Kyma Sound morph from cat to trombone Using Loris and the Reassigned Design Workstation, and the perfor- Bandwidth-Enhanced Model’’ by mance is controlled in real time us- 4. Composition to Accompany the Kelly Fitz et al. (Volume 27, ing a Continuum Fingerboard. Each Article ‘‘An Interview with Hans Number 3) note is synthesized by morphing Tutschku’’ by Ketty Nez (Volume 1. Flute and clarinet morphing exam- loud and quiet tones of two different 27, Number 4) ple. A flute tone and clarinet tone pitches from stringed instruments are morphed. The pitch of the clari- (cello and violin, for low and high Migration pe´tre´e—Hans Tutschku net tone is shifted down by six half pitches, respectively) and wind in- Two images were the starting steps to match that of the flute tone. struments (bassoon and oboe, for low point for Migration pe´tre´e (2001): fly- and high pitches, respectively). ing stone swarms and birds in cages. flute original Both metaphors are used as models flute reconstruction static timbre morphs between vio- for development of energy and inten- (pause) lin and oboe, all at the same pitch sity. All sounds are derived from clarinet original (pause) stone and bird sounds, but they are clarinet reconstruction high-pitched pitch glissando and rarely recognizable. We encounter (pause) timbre glissando between violin and the energy of stones on the beach, flute-to-clarinet morph oboe , and vibrato under the pressure of walking feet, clarinet-to-flute morph (pause) little impulses of stones moved in (pause) low-pitched pitch glissando and the hand, the incredibly intense flute-to-clarinet morph timbre glissando between cello and sounds of breaking stones, and even clarinet-to-flute morph bassoon timbres some stones inside a piano. The lat- 2. Flute and cello morphing example. (pause) ter are used to create tonal and har- A flute tone and a cello tone are brief theme played (nearly) in oc- monic sound structures. The stone morphed. The pitch of the flute tone taves with timbre glides (demon- sounds encounter the energy of thou- is raised by one half-step to be one strating the difficulty of playing the sands of birds in cages, recorded on octave higher than that of the cello Continuum Fingerboard in tune!) the marketplace in Porto. The strong

DVD Program Notes 131

Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/014892603322730541 by guest on 28 September 2021 impression of their living energy 4. Building of a synthetic bass tone, all samples are also included. The stands in great contrast to the fact A2, from components in the clavi- Werkmeister III tuning system is that they can’t fly away. chord : (a) the excitation used. [Editor’s note: The work, origi- (input) signal of the synthesizer; (b) nally mixed in eight channels, has the synthetic tone generated with 9. Vibrato control on the note A2 in been remixed to 5.1 channels for this one basic string model; (c) the syn- the clavichord synthesizer: (a) no vi- DVD.] thetic tone generated with two string brato; (b) a little bit of vibrato (‘‘vb1’’); (c) more vibrato (‘‘vb5’’); (d) 5. Sound Examples to Accompany models with slight detuning; and (d) the widest vibrato usable in synthe- the Article ‘‘Commuted Waveguide same as previous with the soundbox sis (‘‘vb9’’). Naturally, it is possible Synthesis of the Clavichord’’ by Vesa and key-release samples added. to increase the vibrato depth even Va¨lima¨ki, Mikael Laurson, and 5. Building of a synthetic treble tone, further (it is generated by modulating Cumhur Erkut (Volume 27, A5, from components in the clavi- the -line lengths), but it tends Number 1) chord synthesizer: (a) the excitation to be tasteless in a musical context. The following examples illustrate (input) signal of the synthesizer; (b) The vibrato rate is 5 Hz, which is a the sound quality and control capa- the synthetic tone generated with suitable number for musical use. bilities in the real clavichord (exam- one basic string model; (c) the syn- ples 1–3) and in the synthesizer thetic tone generated with two string 10. Detuning of the two string mod- described in our article (examples 4– models with slight detuning; and (d) els used for each key. The detuning 14). After listening to some record- same as previous with the soundbox parameter for the tone A3 is in- ings made on a real clavichord, the and key-release samples added. In creased from zero to a large value in basic features of the synthesizer are this example, the soundbox sample three steps. In normal musical use, demonstrated. Finally, a few musical is clearly audible and substantially the second value is typical. With in- pieces produced using the clavichord improves the realism of synthesis, creased detuning, a flanging-like ef- synthesizer are presented. We grate- which appears to be the case for fect is perceived, which corresponds fully acknowledge Jonte Knif, a per- treble tones in general. to a situation where an audio signal former and builder of early keyboard and its delayed copy are sounding to- 6. A staccato tone, A5, synthesized instruments and a student at the gether while the delay slowly varies both without and with soundbox and Centre for Music and Technology, over time. This effect is present here key-release samples (heard twice). Sibelius Academy (Helsinki, Fin- because the fundamental frequency This example demonstrates the con- land), for his help in the production of the two strings is also slightly tribution of the mechanical-noise of the last three demonstrations (ex- changing during the attack, and the samples during synthesis. Note that amples 12–14). detuning parameter scales this pitch in the second example, the soundbox change. The same phenomenon also 1. An excerpt from Prelude in C Ma- sample remains ringing after the key occurs when vibrato is used on a pair jor by J. S. Bach played on the real is released, which naturally happens of strings that are detuned (but this clavichord in the anechoic chamber. in the real instrument. This instrument was used in all re- is not demonstrated here). When the cordings and in the calibration of the 7. A chromatic scale through all 51 detuning is increased extensively, synthesizer. keys of the clavichord (from C2 to the perception of mistuning begins to dominate, and the flanging effect -Hz) played on D6) played on the synthesizer ‘‘with 395סTwo tones (A4 .2 disappears. the real clavichord with different key out strings,’’ that is, with all string velocities, pianissimo and fortissimo, models turned off (the loop filter gain has been set to zero), so that 11. Controlling the attack in the heard twice. This demonstrates the clavichord synthesizer on A5. The dynamic range of the clavichord. No- only the excitation, the soundbox, and the key-release samples are attack sharpness parameter is varied ס tice also the mechanical noises dur- through four values (g heard. attack 1, 2, 4, ing the attack and at the key-release 8), while all the other synthesis pa- time. 8. A chromatic scale through all 51 rameters are kept constant (heard 3. Vibrato in real clavichord tones keys of the clavichord (from C2 to twice). This is an intuitive parameter (A2), demonstrating both moderate D6) played on the synthesizer. Now that the user can control in the new vibrato and an extremely strong vi- all string models are generating out- structure used in our commuted brato. put signal as in normal playing, and waveguide synthesizer.

132 Computer Music Journal

Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/014892603322730541 by guest on 28 September 2021 12. Gigue by Johann Jakob Froberger 13. Gigue by Johann Jakob Froberger. ness in terms of dynamics and vi- (1616–1667) from the Suite No. 30 in An alternative take where artificial brato. In some treble notes, we make A Minor. The mean-tone quarter- reverberation has been added using use of polyphonic vibrato so that comma tuning system is used, as the ‘‘church’’ preset of the Lexicon only a single note has vibrato. All was typical at the time when this PCM-90 digital reverberator. This control data, including the rubato piece was written. Note that this re- has not been done to hide any weak tempo changes, have been accom- cording is anechoic, because the syn- points in the synthesis quality but to plished by hand-tuning a representa- thesizer has been calibrated improve the naturalness of the spa- tion of the piece in the ENP 2.0 according to anechoic samples, and tial impression, which can be a ma- notation and control software. The we have not added any reverberation jor problem in computer-generated same artificial reverberation effect in the recording. While this reveals music. was added to this recording as in the clearly the characteristics of the syn- previous example. thesis, it also gives an unnatural im- 14. Allemande by Johann Jakob Frob- pression, because most people are erger from the Suite no. 30 in A mi- not used to hearing music recorded nor. This piece is well-suited for the in anechoic conditions. clavichord, employing its expressive-

DVD Program Notes 133

Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/014892603322730541 by guest on 28 September 2021