WELCOME TO CREATIVE MUSIC TECHNOLOGY 7:30pm Friday March 8th Ian Hanger Recital Hall The Creative Music Technology (CMT) department is pleased to open its 2024 performance series with a concert of new music by staff and students. 1) “MODULAR MECHANICAL SYSTEMS” (10’) BY JOHN R. FERGUSON AND NICOLE L. CARROLL Modular Mechanical Systems (MMS) is a study of DIY handmade electronic music systems utilising light sensors and kinetic movement as audio and control sources. It explores tactile feedback systems where performance gestures and light control and reception enable cyclical sonic motifs. The modular design allows an infinite array of potential performance outcomes. MMS considers how each element–hardware and software, tangible and virtual–of the system can both enact and respond to generative processes through gestural control and light manipulation. The authors explore the role and affordances of each element and how it contributes towards the temporal space. During performance, the authors explore shifting timbres, rhythms, and recurring sonic motifs by manipulating the boxes' configuration and their relationship to one another. The interplay of emerging textures with the performers' responsiveness and interaction highlights the affordances of handmade bespoke systems toward musical structures in non-linear systems. While improvisation and experimentation are at the heart of the composition process, the system allows for repeatable performance outcomes (we hope / this is work-in-progress!).
2) “MONOCHROME RESONANCE” (15’) BY TIMOTHY TATE Expanding upon my practice of repurposing outdated consumer electronics and obsolete media, monochrome resonance explores the unseen connections between sound and image. Using a FFT (fast Fourier transform) algorithm on simple microcontrollers, live audio is converted to a visual output which is displayed on monochrome monitors in real-time. Translating the audio into an array of monochromatic visual elements, light sensors are attached to the screen, activating a series of switches that are connected to the RAM (random access memory) buffer of circuit-bent portable CD players and various elements of handmade sound making/processing devices. A recursive audio-visual feedback loop is created, resulting in a generative system that creates an ever-evolving sonic landscape.
3) “DREAMSCAPE” BY NAVA RYAN, PERFORMED BY NAVA RYAN AND TABEA SITTEZ (9’-10’) Dreamscape is an audiovisual work for piano and viola, with digital signal processing via Pure Data and visuals via TouchDesigner. This is my second collaborative work with Tabea Sitte for my PhD project. I thank Tabea greatly for her excellent musicianship and invaluable contributions in our audiovisual duo format. The acoustic composition, Pure Data patch, TouchDesigner visual file and sensor gloves were all completed by Nava. To summarise the interactions taking place, the musician’s sensor glove movements control effects in the electronic sound layer at key moments, and the electronic sound layer has a direct effect on some reactive