Triptych Unfolding
With Hugi Guðmundsson (music)
For piano, electronics and live visuals (2014)
Commissioned by the Reykjavik Center for Visual Music
Icelandic composer Hugi Guðmundsson and I were commissioned by the Reykjavik Center for Visual Music to collaborate on this audiovisual composition. The work premiered at the opening concert of the RCVM - Punto y Raya Festival, January 30th, 2014, at the Harpa Concert Hall, Reykjavík. The pianist was Tinna Thorsteinsdottir. Guðmundsson composed the three-movement music — for realtime computer processing of piano — based on initial visual sketches we worked out together a two-day session in July, 2013. The starting point for the work was an agreement to seek a "spacious, elegant simplicity" in the materials and their development. Compared to my fixed-media work to-date, there is more focus here on setting processes in motion and patiently allowing them to unfold. This was the first time I have created only the visuals for an audiovisual work. The commission also marks a return for me to performing live. I converted my Brownian Doughnut Warper filter to Open Frameworks for realtime performance and created mechanisms in Max that allowed me to control the system using a 32-channel motorized, touch-sensitive fader board. In this way, the pianist, Guðmundsson (running the sound processing) and I could interact fluidly and spontaneously as chamber music performers. Technical DetailsThe work entailed converting elements of my Brownian Doughnut Warper filter into Open Frameworks and optimizing for realitme performance. Max/MSP controls the Open Frameworks application through Open Sound Control. The 32-channel fader board was custom made for De Montfort University's Music, Technology and Innovation Research Centre by glui.de. Presentations
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