Music Technology Studios, Wood Hall (Basement Level)
PrismaSonus: Unmasking and Choreographing Hidden Nuances in Flute Playing via Microphone Placement
Alexander Ishov, flutist and co-creator
Theocharis Papatrechas, composer and co-creator
PrismaSonus is an artistic initiative researching the relationship between microphone placement, flute technique, and perception. Placing microphones inside the body of the instrument unmasks hidden timbres and microtechniques. Displacing the listening perspective allows performers and listeners to inhabit unique sonic landscapes that otherwise can only be imagined. The project aims to better understand how technology mediates communication between performers and composers, blurring the boundary between creative roles within electroacoustic collaborations.
In our presentation, project creators Alexander Ishov and Theocharis Papatrechas will:
- Demonstrate and analyze the musical and acoustical findings of PrismaSonus using pre-recorded material and live demonstrations
- Discuss methods for describing and notating electroacoustic flute techniques
- Share musical applications of our technical research
- Present our collaborative model as a potential option for other performer-composer duos
This research materializes into Morphés I, a 3D audio installation for 20 channels premiered in February 2023 at the Qualcomm Institute’s IDEAS Festival. By using audio spatialization to situate the listener within the flute, we discover the unique acoustics of the instrument; it is an invitation to the audience to be immersed into the intimate, nuanced sounds of the flute’s resonant body in a way that challenges the traditional spatial relationships between performer, instrument, and listener. Morphés II adapts the work to a live performance version for live flute and electronics, presented in May 2023.
Alexander Ishov is an innovative flutist specializing in 20th and 21st century music and is devoted to the co-creation of new acoustic and electroacoustic works for flute. As a committed researcher, he explores the intersection between interface design, pedagogy, and electronics, engaging with issues of design in the practice room, the classroom, and the concert hall. He is currently a DMA Candidate in Contemporary Music Performance at the University of California San Diego.
Theocharis Papatrechas is a composer and sound artist interested in utilizing technology to expand sonic possibilities and engage listeners into immersive artistic experiences. Having obtained a Ph.D. in Music from UC San Diego, he is currently holding the position of Postdoctoral Scholar at Qualcomm Institute of CalIT2. Converging research on environmental science, acoustic ecology, and audio arts, through data-driven sonification, his work investigates the impacts of extreme events on the acoustic signatures of underwater and remote terrestrial environments.
Coloratura: Bridging the Gap Between Color & Sound
Camry Ivory, Audiovisual Artist/Musician
Coloratura is a transmedia project combining visual art and music by using paint brushes as MIDI controllers that can create and manipulate live music.
The polyphonic interface is composed of 12 paintbrushes (each assigned to a unique color and musical note) and a pedal board that facilitates octave shifts, looping, and channel navigation. By touching a paintbrush to the canvas, color and sound emerge simultaneously, providing the user and the audience with a multi-sensory, synaesthetic experience. Every performance generates a unique piece of recorded music and a unique piece of physically tangible art as the end result.
During this presentation, Coloratura developer Camry Ivory, will:
- Provide a brief overview of the history of Coloratura and its current applications in the art, music & educational sectors
- Demonstrate the capabilities and limitations of the interface of the interface
- Invite discussion on future iterations and applications of the interface
Camry Ivory is an audiovisual artist & musician who harnesses technology to explore the synergistic relationship between color, form & sound. Camry is the inventor of Coloratura, an innovative interface that uses paintbrushes as electronic instruments. Each paintbrush is assigned to a different paint color and musical note, enabling her to create original paintings and music compositions simultaneously.
Camry blends artistic and musical techniques seamlessly, building ambient audiovisual soundscapes in evolving, synaesthetic layers: brushstroke by brushstroke, note by note.
Each painting Camry creates is accompanied by a video recording of the piece being developed, which allows viewers to experience a multi-sensory symphony of music and art. Learn more at http://www.coloratura-art.com
Dawn of the Din: Ecoacoustics and Improvised Music
Glen Whitehead, trumpet and electronics
In this lecture / performance I will demonstrate new ecoacoustic compositions related to my 2021 article “Take it Outside People!: Connecting Ecoacoustics with Improvised Music” in the Journal of Critical Studies in Improvisation. I will explain and demonstrate / perform how some of the theoretical approaches from Critical Improvisation Theory as well as Ecoacoustics lead to the results of these compositions. This recording, entitled “Pale Blue” is being released by Nuema Records in Spring, 2023.
Utilizing sound processing software, effects, extended techniques, a range of timbre manipulation on the trumpet, along with an array of samples to be randomly triggered from field recordings gathered from around the world, such interactivity in these pieces is immersed in every aspect of their creation. The search and discovery of sound and phenomena in a chosen environment is just as much improvisational and interactive as the first performance. Many aspects of the practices of field recording are experienced like free improvisation with nature. Making oneself available, vulnerable, inconspicuous, open to receptionand interplay – are as important out in nature, as it is in the concert venue. Because of this inter-natural relationship, I frame most of these pieces in improvisational terms to be freely interpreted differently for each performance.
Glen Whitehead, D.M.A. explores improvisational phenomena, and environmental collaboration between living cultures and the natural world. He has been featured on numerous recordings, residencies and music festivals around the world, and commissioned concertos from some of the world’s most celebrated composers. Whitehead is a Professor at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs and Chair of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts.