Ghosts

Ghosts are often intertwined with folklore and literature. Whether we believe in ghosts or not, there are many tales of unrested spirits wandering in the nether realm. Clamouring and creaking through the cobwebs of time, they wrestle to emerge from the shadows. Wailing and howling for deliverance. Inventing phantasms and cacophonies we cannot decipher. If we could hear them, if only we could understand their despair, maybe we would understand that they hope, like the rest of us.

“Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” - Stephen King

Summary

This composition is an attempt to explore the idea of using an aural discourse with a combination of abstract and abstracted syntax. The basic idea relies on using minimal sounds and using digital synthesis and modulation to shape the sound presentation via an interactive live electronics setup. One of the primary ideas driving this piece was the exploration of the idea of ‘unpredictability’. It is fascinating that using a combination of digital synthesis and live modulation techniques, a certain abstraction can be achieved between the control and production of different sounds.

The selection of sounds was based on experiments with the BEAP (Berklee Electro Acoustic Pedagogy) module provided in MAX / MSP. This is a library of high level modules which emulate the characteristics of a modular synthesizer. BEAP emulates the signal characteristics of a 1v/oct voltage controlled Eurorack modular synthesizer. Using various components provided via this module a MAX / MSP patch was designed to be performed via  a live electronics setup. The live electronics setup consists of a handheld mobile device which communicates with MAX using OSC protocols. The accelerometer data obtained from the mobile device are then mapped to various parameters in the BEAP modules to dynamically effect the sound presentation.

The performative aspect of the piece relies on the flexibility of the composer to modulate and effect multiple sound objects synchronously with a single gesture.

Composition

This composition is an attempt at representing an electronic aural space which is driven by stimulus and response. The ambient drone is dark and ominous and is made to pulsate in varying degrees throughout the performance is the rooted texture all the sounds return to and drags through the entirety of the piece. A solitary tonal sound drifts, flows, stutters and sometimes drags as a leading voice in the foreground of this texture. This forms individual ‘streams’ meandering in the spectral frame and then disappearing into the background textures. As a response to this tonal stimulus, multiple textures are revealed and hidden. The stimulus and response seems orderly and predictable for a certain duration. 

However, midway through the piece the predictability of this order is questioned and multidimensional movements such as  a spinning and centrifugal motion interspersed with static textures and sometimes harmonic suspended voicings are heard. As the track progresses, the movements increase and become simultaneous, increasing tension, adding to the density and chaos. Finally, textures spiral and flutter into a vortex and finally rest  in a static ambience.