[-empyre-] FWD: squidsoup/altzero5 intro

["-empyre-owner" <empyre-owner@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au>]

hi
A few comments and thoughts on our project altzero5, currently on show as
part of lab3d at the cornerhouse, manchester, and online at www.altzero.com

all the best
 -- anthony rowe

altzero is an ongoing project that aims to explore the possibilities of
musical composition in virtual space.  by using space as an alternative (or
addition) to the temporal backbone of music, a piece can become 'navigable',
or explorable - i.e. the listener is given a degree of control over how they
hear it and what they hear.

previous incarnations of the project have taken the form of single
compositions, accessible online or as an installation.  with altzero5, we
have made a tool that enables people to create and publish their own
navigable music compositions - using their own sounds, and with control over
playback and various spatial parameters (location, range, visual appearance
and so on).  the tool, and various examples of what can be made with it, are
on www.altzero.com.

altzero is effectively a set of parameters to define sample-based musical
composition in time and space, in a sense a 3 dimensional navigable
recording format.

the installation at the cornerhouse (made with electronic musicians Icarus)
consists of a sequence of ten soundscapes, created during the first two days
of the lab3d exhibition.  a series of soundmaking objects were placed in the
gallery, and connected to a mixing desk using contact mic's.  the audience
were invited to interact with the objects, and the resulting sounds were
then sampled, and used as the raw material for Icarus' navigable music
compositions.  they made over 50 soundscapes in that time, each a
progression from the last. the key moments then chosen to create the final
piece.

so, the end result is both a musical composition and a unique record of that
event - the sounds were made by visitors to the exhibition playing with the
sound objects, and they were then processed and turned into the final piece.


anthony rowe  |  squidsoup

59 rivington st. london ec2a 3qq UK  |  phone +44 (0)20 7729 7226  |  fax
+44 (0)20 7613 3303
www.squidsoup.org |  www.squidsoup.com |  www.altzero.com