GNSS1 (2015)

A generative standalone code-based sonic composition

A purposefully obstinate software that, upon being clicked, transforms the listener’s screen into total blackness,
thereby enforcing a movement away from distracted multi-tasking and the common experience of post-itunes background listening.

Regarding the process/materials:
This piece applies a genetic algorithm in order to evolve a sonic composition using simple FM synthesis.
All sound is generated using 12 sine waves, 6 click generators and two reverb units.The first 100 seconds will always consist of a linear rhythmic build-up, and the piece will always last around 410 seconds. Beyond this, the result is determined by the evolutionary process, with the population of possible outcomes consisting of sonic parameters for the synthesis as well as rhythmic patterns.The system is injected with “fit” solutions in order to move it towards a preferred outcome, which biases it towards an overall form. When the application is first opened, the population is randomized. After each successive playing, the population maintains the members from the previous process. Each time the piece begins, sound material for the first 100 seconds is drawn from a small set of “fit” solutions, which seeds the initial evolution of the piece.

Examples:

single run, take 1

single run, take 2 (final 5.5 minutes)

single run, take 3 (final 4.5 minutes)

The Piece:

Mac Version
Windows Version

USB Slim Card Available for Purchase

A highly site-specific construction for the primary visitor’s elevator at the Tang Museum of Skidmore College, as part of their Elevator Music Series.

(The gallery website for my piece can be found here).

The following is the text from the booklet which accompanies the piece:

“Doug Van Nort has explored the resonant qualities of the Tang elevator by testing various sound sources inside it, listening to how sounds are transformed by the acoustic space and physical structure of the elevator. The result is a work, composed by the artist while inside the elevator, which blurs the line between sound delivery system and acoustic instrument in that there are no traditional speakers – but rather a set of physical objects, augmenting the elevator, which act as speakers themselves. A constellation of small objects are installed overhead to form a set of speaker-objects that are effective at transmitting crisp, distinct, mid-to-high frequency sounds. These objects are driven by a collection of audio transducers, which in turn vibrate the objects in the same manner as a speaker cone would vibrate the air in its path. Very low shifting drones are created by driving the elevator’s steel wall panels with a bass frequency transducer, allowing for a tactile experience that can include the rattle of the elevator itself. In this way, the resonant qualities of the elevator and the vibrating motions of the objects within it, come together with the sonic sources to define the piece. The minimal lighting focuses audiences on the sound phenomena without visual distraction. It further serves to evoke a sense of limitless space, encompassing the many constellations of sound that exist within the piece.

Constellate is an exploration of resonance, immersion, and the materiality of sound. It shepherds the listener through sonic terrains that are at once highly enveloping and filled with incidental moments, as it transforms the elevator into an electro-acoustical musical instrument.”

The piece was composed absolutely for the acoustic space and structure, and so was constructed while I sat in the elevator as in the below image. Additional images below show the vinyl label that provides the basic piece information, the piece in low lighting conditions, and also under brighter lights (when the elevator door was opened).

Audio documentation was also released as Constellate (Excerpt/Rework) on the Leonardo Music Journal 2014 Compilation “The Shape of Spaces yet to Come”

You can also see some basic video documentation taken with hand-held camera and built-in mic here.

I also gave a related workshop on sound sculpting with everyday materials.

This quartet project involves Pauline Oliveros, Francisco López and Jonas Braasch. It brings together devoted improvisers on one hand and electroacoustic composers on the other. The project explores a new synthesis of improvised electro/acoustics, and studio-based composition. The process has been to begin with free improvisations, from which recordings are then crafted into personal compositions by each member (which have then found their way back into performance, thereby closing the loop). We released an album on Pogus in April 2011, which has received some very nice reviews. This can be purchases directly from me, from Pogus or at the iTunes music store.

Also, my piece Outer was featured in the film Leopardi (aka il Giovane Favoloso), directed by Mario Martone and starring Elio Germano. It was used to underpin an intense scene featuring only the main character, in the film’s final 3.5 minutes.

Excerpts  of my pieces from Quartet for the end of Space (Pogus, 2011):

In 2006, Canadian sound artist Kathy Kennedy asked a number of composers to create a new sound work using a recording she had made of a group of people humming. These pieces were released as a compilation on Montreal label le son 666.

All sonic material for my composition, imbalance, was created using only a 10-second fragment of this collective hum. In 2009 I was asked to present a piece in a show (alongside works by John Cage and Barry Truax) on “aural architectures” at RPI. For this occasion I re-worked imbalance into a 5.1 composition that was displayed in the school of architecture.

Here is an excerpt of the original stereo version: