Aria for Voice and Plastic has been selected for the Sonic Art Oxford Juke Box as part of the Sonic Art Oxford Conference 2010 – three days of sonic art, electroacoustic music and live electronics hosted by the Sonic Art Research Unit at Oxford Brookes University.
The Dwelling Series is a triptych of vocal works. Multiple concepts arising from the notion of the title Dwelling gave rise to an interactive process of improvising and recording with MAXMSP, through which I sought to explore a sense of ‘inhabiting’ the work. As inspiration for generating improvised material under this complex umbrella concept of ‘dwelling’ I used three general metaphors to articulate events or states: dust (essence), cycle (flow/journey) and echo (memory).
The compositional process consisted of creating successive vocal improvisations, which were merged together, fully intact, after each improvisation was captured. Manipulation of the captured improvisations was strictly limited to the editing of gestures and textures in time and space to enhance or magnify relationships/conflicts that emerged by chance as each layer was added.
(i) Dwelling/In Dialogue: studio composition (17′).
(ii) Dwelling/Encounters: pre-composed sound and live performance, in which two live performers merged and improvised with a pre-composed soundtrack projected through multiple loud speakers. Swiss vocalist Céline Hänni and I undertook a short intensive residency to explore extended technique vocal improvisation that culminated in the final performance. (12’30)
(iii) Dwelling/In Reflection: live interactive solo performance (18′)
I am delighted to be organiser and host of the first University of Glasgow Music Department electroacoustic music event GLEAM on 20th March 2010 . Here is a call for works.
