CD – Crónica

What happens when some instrumentalists, vocalists, researchers, sound artists, programmers and a philosopher join together to experiment with new techniques of musical interaction? Trondheim EMP is a thirty strong member’s collective that decided to uses auditory analysis and digital audio processing to transform the functionalities of sounds and reorganise sound effects. This allows a performer to influence the sound of another performer, in particular with the use of the acoustic signal the instrument produced. Thanks to software, this improvisational process allows an interaction that becomes more complex and mediated. The reason behind a specific technical result becomes uncertain for both performer and listener. A similar project must be based on practical experimentation, because these cross-adaptive techniques clearly need many enhancements to work out and have an effective music interaction. It’s interesting to note that this process might be theoretically infinite: the sound of the second performer can also influence the elaboration of the following one and so on, adding more and more complexity. Clearly this procedure develops a high instability rate and demanded two years of careful planning, which was supported by the Norwegian Artistic Research Programme and the Norwegian University for Technology and Science, with collaborations from De Montfort University, Maynooth University, the Norwegian Academy of Music, Queen Mary University in London and the University of California, San Diego. The double album shows different phases of the work process. Poke It With a Stick is the result of the initial system explorations, including mistakes, obstacles, small discoveries and surprises. Joining the Bots is more cohesive and controlled and shows a larger virtuosity in the creative efforts. This process originates a great energy and many possibilities of exchange between two or more elements of the group, as the improvisation process might be something you learn and can apply to very different contexts. Not being intellectually focused on the control of specific dimensions allows the adaptive process to face every kind of musical event.

 

Trondheim EMP – Poke It With A Stick / Joining The Bots