Concert 2

Thursday, March 13, 2025
Bloomberg Center Theater
7:30pm

Thormulator by Thor Madsen
Thor Madsen, Thormulator

Infinite Movement by Dennis Scheiba
fixed media

Improvisation by Taarof
Matt Wellins, electronics
Parsa Ferdowsi, electronics

Improvisation by de_umbris.idearum
James Annett, electronics

Program Notes

Thormulator

4 years ago I began work on Thormulator with no prior knowledge of SuperCollider or programming in general. I had two objectives:

Firstly, I wanted to create an app I could improvise with - an app which would feed me back meaningful musical responses in direct reaction to my guitar playing.

Secondly, I was imagining ways of playing into a sound, i.e., shaping the sound of other instruments with my playing in the same way you can shape a bag of rice with your hands.

One can summarize my goal as designing a system which:

Follows the performer in real time
Has a sufficient number of responses to create a wide range of possible outputs
Responds in a way that feels meaningful to the performer
Allows the performer the maximum amount of musical freedom and range of expression
Works without the need to use external controllers

In using such a system, I wanted to see if it is possible to establish a feedback loop between performer and machine which can inspire a new way of interacting with performance software, possibly a new type of music.

https://thormulator.com/
https://thormadsen.com/

Infinite Movement

by Dennis Scheiba

Sound as movement in space is immanent, just as the movement of change is immanent in our society.

A sonic equivalent of a social movement of eternal growth and optimization can be seen in the Shepard sound: an acoustic illusion that suggests an eternally rising tone.

This sound moves from the back of the past into the auditorium, where this acoustic illusion is deconstructed and takes over the space - one is in the center of the movement and perceives the breaking apart of the illusion through squeaking, suspension, stretching and compression of the sound.

After a while, the curtain of a Shepard sound appears again, pulling further forward, whereby the sound has now taken on a downward movement that pulls you forward into itself.

In the end, the question remains as to what effect and possibilities an illusion creates that enters the space of tension between consciousness and perception, reflecting on the illusion of psychoacoustics.

The spatialization of Infinite movement is not to be understood as a mere effect of a spatial positioning of sounds, but interweaves with the narrative perspective of past, present and future, growth and decline.

The composition does not follow the classic spatialization technique, which suggests a reference point in a sweet spot where the localization of sounds works best.

Instead, all listeners are in the same situation in the same space - from back to front, from top to bottom, from quiet to loud - and thus form an acoustic community.

Infinite Movement won the Sound Cinema 2024 competition in the free category.

Improvisation by Taarof

by:
Matt Wellins
Parsa Ferdowsi

I think this is the third time I have been asked to write a bio for the duo, Taarof: Matt Wellins in New Haven and Parsa Ferdowsi in Philadelphia are engaging in the old tradition of taarof. They are making empty gestures. An empty gesture that is known to be empty and yet is still commonly upheld. It’s been awhile since I last saw them perform and I don’t know why I accepted the offer to write this text. It is unpaid. It’s been really difficult to keep track of them now that they are no longer in the same state. The person who asked me to write this told me there will be text involved this time. Perhaps, after previous failed attempts, P is able to say something. She also told me that M is extremely worried about the recent climate, especially in Washington. I am too. It smells. But she mentioned that he has an updated instruction from a Japanese competition for making pour-over coffee and it might change things. I doubt it. I don’t know how she collects this information. It is is difficult to wear red all the time and be surreptitious. The point is that they are being watched exactly as you are are. I’m here. I’m looking at you sitting in your chairs.

Improvisation by de_umbris.idearum

by James Annett

I started using SuperCollider during the pandemic initially as a way to explore compositional structures using computers. This eventually led me to develop a performance practice of improvising in real-time with my software. I use a combination of methods including generative, aleatory, loop-based, gestural control, live coding, synthesized and sampled sound as well as various strategies of remembering and forgetting using neural networks.

de_umbris.idearum is the name of my solo improvised electronic project. For me improvisation relates to embodiment and memory and the name was chosen in reference to Renaissance esotericist Giordano Bruno. As I was beginning to write code, I was also engaged in a choreographic practice involving reflective writing which also influenced me (notably in my desire to work with multi-channel audio).

This performance is specific to this occasion and dedicated to Mark Molnar.