Lena (StraoFyzika Sound Designer):
Sound characters were designed on Korg Kronos synthesizer sound engines. Following previous concepts of compositions for StratoFyzika, again I have prepared metaphorical interpretation of psychological phenomena with mathematical theories. Since we were considering phenomena of looping and phasing, I chose to explore transcendental number theory, because every real transcendental number must also be irrational and cannot be expressed exactly as a fraction (equivalently, its decimal representation never ends and never settles into a permanent repeating pattern).
As first step I used improvisation method based on playing restricted keyboard, limiting tones and frequencies following randomly distributed digits of the fractional part of number π. The goal of this jam was square the circle of my imagination in order to reach transcendental states through the sound. Other variants were to play only “prime” bells - notes following the set of prime numbers. Sound repetition patterns are results of algorithm settings of karma arpeggiator to values according to decimal expansion of imaginary part of first nontrivial zero of Riemann zeta function, to follow Riemann hypothesis of the distribution of prime numbers, where all trivial zeros lie on Critical line of complex numbers. However, even though it is possible to calculate this complicated theory, my personal approach to music is playful and imaginative, not strictly scientific. For references of calculation Riemann theory in music, please see the book The music of the primes by Marcus du Sautoy. http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/fawaz/243/others/themusicoftheprimes.pdf
In this conceptual/sensual approach I experiment with deconstruction of once already synthesized classical instrument, bringing them to back to digital noises and disharmonies, unsynchronised tempos with unexpected abruptions in the sound modulation. There recordings are used as source material for samples or short loops to build a composition. The difference from the pieces IIaikiaII and Shadows is that the composition is not fixed on the timeline, but the sounds are following a process of building the final choreography.
Final composition and its spatial distribution is to reconstruct complex sound environment and could be depicted as sound pool. At the beginning we were also interested in Moon phasing, so I took an inspiration in heavenly motion and decided to simulate a gravitational field. Spacetime can be warped by movement of objects it it and these days the laser interferometer can already detect and record the gravitational waves, which can be heard as sound waves. Dancers were to present such mass objects in correlation to light and sound representing spacetime itself. Practically, sound is to follow the movement of the dancers and the actions of dancers on the scene are affecting the happening in the space around them. For example Phi opens with part called gravity cracks, which in time span spins into a vortex. Example how mass objects create anomalies in space and when occurs fast dynamic movement, space around them forms into spiral movement. Black holes themselves are a swirling vortex of gravity that does not release light, but expels x-ray and gamma radiation. As piece continues, we reconstruct such images, in a sense, we play with physics as steering factor for imagination, a lead or example how to approach creation. Sound interpretation are conceived in spiritual and intuitive levels. In Φ (Phi) we are exploring our very body perception of own space time, each part of the piece is finding a connection in micro and macro cosmos. Choreography and dancers are referring to their inspiration in minimalist music, in Steve Reich’s theory of “process music,” exhibited in his phase-shifting pieces.
In Φ the interactivity based on sensors does not affect sound character, as it was in Shadows, where filters were applied and modified continuous sound in live performance. This time the sensors data can be read and measured by the correlation of each of the axis from one and other dancer. In Ableton Live my colleague Max Weber coded new version of vst plugin Send notes XY, which now allows to link separately each of the tracks in within 4 source sounds environment. By connecting osc signal to this source on each line, we can operate each line - individual source of sound, into position in quadratic space.
