Spatial Audio Week: Concert 1
Monday 27 November 2023, Musiikkitalo, Black Box
Programme
Lubeca Sintética (2023) – Diego Alejandro Morales Castillo
<into Another…> (2023) – Goeun Kim
A Sound Vault for a Silent Future (2023) – Philipp Wallis Nicolai
Hybrid Structures (2022) – Adrian Thieß
intermission
Ruumietüüd / Study of Space (2023) – Rebeca Vilpuu
Lumetaju | Sense of Snow (2023) – Viktoria Grahv
Anamnesi, session #1 (2023) – Valerio Galadini
A Draft of Spatial Sound (2023) – Hans-Gunter Lock
Weightless – Otto Iivari
5 Streets (2022) – Andreas Kalvet
Noisebox (2023) – Aleksei Epifanov
Program notes
Lubeca Sintética (2023) – Diego Alejandro Morales Castillo
An electroacoustic composition, patially generative and partially controlled in real-time, which showcases and processes different sounds that can be heard around the city of Lübeck. It features field recordings with different levels of sound processing moving orderly around a multichannel array.
Born in Nicaragua in 1998, Started studying composition with Katharina Rosenberger at the MH Lübeck in april 2023.
<into Another…> (2023) – Goeun Kim
Surrounding sounds fill the space, continuously questioning each other. They delve into the texture of each sound. The fragments of these questions come together, creating another path. In this way, they move forward together or separately, towards another place.
Goeun Kim (*1993) observes the intrinsic characteristics of each sound. In the process of this exploration, she extracts thoughts from within, compares them with the characteristics of collected sounds, and then deconstructs and reassembles them. Through this, she is constructing her own musical language.
Currently living in Lübeck, Germany, and she is studying for a master’s degree in composition with Prof. Dr. Katharina Rosenberger at Musikhochschule Lübeck.
A Sound Vault for a Silent Future (2023) – Philipp Wallis Nicolai
A Sound Vault for a Silent Future is an interactive sound installation that aims to re-connect the audience to the sounds of (critically) endangered animal species. Against a background of spatialized soundscapes, audience members are able to play animal sounds with their smartphones, interconnecting with each other through the more-than-human sounds.
Philipp Wallis Nicolai, born 1995 in Frankfurt, is a composer and sound artist. He studied composition as well as physics, and is currently studying with Katharina Rosenberger at the Academy of Music Lübeck, pursuing a master’s in composition.
His works comprise solo, chamber, and orchestral pieces and multimedia installations. They are often inspired by sounds of nature and the more-than-human world and have been performed by ensembles such as Trio Catch, Leonkoro Quartet, oh ton-Ensemble, and the MHL orchestra. In 2022, he received the MHL composer prize for best orchestral composition, and in 2023, he was a runner-up for the Possehl prize for new musical performance concepts.
Hybrid Structures (2022) – Adrian Thieß
In his piece Hybrid Structures, composer-performer Adrian Thieß develops a dialogue between a trumpet and a modular synthesizer. The piece explores the relationship between analog and digital soundscapes, creating a dynamic interplay that transforms different sonic worlds into a layered tapestry of various auditory textures.
Adrian Thieß studies music and theatre in the Master of Education program at the Musikhochschule Lübeck. With a rich musical background in both popular and classical genres, he developed a keen fascination for contemporary improvised music and multimedia- composition. During his studies, Adrian’s artistic focus shifted towards an experimental exploration of the trumpet and modular synthesizers. Thereby he became active as a Composer-Performer, dedicating his focus to the exploration and fusion of acoustic and electronic soundscapes.
Ruumietüüd / Study of Space (2023) – Rebeca Vilpuu
The idea of how a piece written for piano might sound in an ambisonic system arose when I first heard American jazz pianist Brad Mehldau’s L.A. To the pastor. It seems to me that there is a lot of restlessness and searching in this story written during Lockdown. I wrote my short etude to explore how the means of expression of the ambisonic system allow to recreate this kind of emotional space. I recorded the piano part of the song to be presented in the chamber room of the Music Academy.
Lumetaju | Sense of Snow (2023) – Viktoria Grahv
The work is based on a text with two subject lines, which initially run synchronously and then separate into two parallel lines. One of the lines, dealing with the theme of time, is sung. The second line, dealing with the subject of snow, sounds colloquial. At the end of the piece, both lines meet for a while, but no longer as equals. Spatialization is strongly related to the text. Vocals: Anita Maasalu.
Viktoria Grahv (1984) graduated from the Georg Ots Tallinn Music School with composition, as well as from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, currently she is a Master’s student in composition.
Anamnesi, session #1 (2023) – Valerio Galadini
A dialog between a nurse and someone who has lost the ability to speak with words.
A Draft of Spatial Sound (2023) – Hans-Gunter Lock
This piece tries to find ways to create sound in the 3-dimensional immersive surrounding space, delivering different characters of sound in mostly any direction, which are organized in layers of different registers and locations. Trains of colored impulses are opposed to long-lasting tone bands together with birdsong-like rhythmical phrases in the foreground. The sounds are generated in Max8, partly pitch-controlled by curved lines with IanniX and processed and spatialized in Reaper with the IEM plugin suite.
Hans-Gunter Lock studies music theory and composition at the Leipzig University of Music and Theatre but has lived since 2000 in Estonia. He is teaching and working both at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (EAMT) and at the Estonian Academy of the Arts. His creative work contains electroacoustic music and acoustic compositions for various chamber music ensembles. In the field of electroacoustic composition spatialization has been an integral part of his artistic output. Working for a long time with 8-speaker systems he recently prefers higher order ambisonic technology. Therefore he designed his own 3-dimensional 17-speaker multichannel sound system, which is set up in his studio or can be moved for concerts into appropriate venues. Additionally Hans-Gunter Lock focuses on microtonal pitch organization systems regarding to their specific melodic and harmonic features, composing with the Bohlen-Pierce scale and with 22 equal divisions of the octave. Engaging musicians to play microtonal he has employed specialized instruments like the Bohlen-Pierce clarinet, a microtonally refretted guitar, building specialized instruments by himself (modified recorders, tubular bells), and also creating specialized intonation exercises for flexible pitch instruments and voice.
Weightless – Otto Iivari
Weightless is a spatial electroacoustic piece made for ambisonic system. The piece is inspired by the choreographic principles of Rudolf von Laban’s Effort theory. The piece uses manipulated field recordings, instrumental- and vocal recordings with a fresh connection to the ideas of musique concrète. The movement of each sound object expresses weightless movement behavior based on Laban’s studies of human movement and dance. The piece was awarded a 2nd place in The International Sonosfera Ambisonic Competition.
Otto Iivari graduated master’s degree in electroacoustic composition at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, and continues actually with a doctorate at the same institution. His works are mainly acousmatic, spatial electroacoustic music composed for multichannel settings and ambisonic system. Iivari likes to magnify and draw influence from natural sound phenomena. Space and the movement of sound is a crucial element in Iivari’s music. Otto Iivari recently spent an exchange semester in IEM Graz and he is studying with Malle Maltis and Margo Kõlar.
5 Streets (2022) – Andreas Kalvet
5 Streets is an acousmatic ambisonic work which is composed using a 5-tone scale and mainly consists of cityscape sound material recorded in 2022 in Stockholm, Sweden, processed or used in wavetable sound synthesis.
Andreas Kalvet is a composer, sound engineer and producer. He is currently a third-year student at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theater majoring in electroacoustic composition. He likes to use sound synthesis techniques in his work, as well as processing recorded sounds beyond recognition. In addition to composing, he is also involved in live sound recording and mixing. He also teaches a composition course as part of the creative module at the Viimsi High School and supervises the school band.
Noisebox (2023) – Aleksei Epifanov
NoiseBox is a small box with various strange details attached to it, which fully justifies its name – it perfectly creates various noises. If these sounds are passed through processing effects, you can get amazing results. NoiseBox was born for two reasons. First, the author loves to do something with his hands. Secondly, NoiseBox is a reaction to the abundance of virtual instruments. The author does not oppose virtual instruments in any way and uses them himself. But tactile sensations from a real thing are much nicer than digital technologies 🙂
Aleksei Epifanov is a musician, composer and sound designer, graduated bachelor’s degree in electroacoustic composition at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. Inspired by the works of Pierre Schaeffer, Aleksei loves to make field recordings, he constantly records something and thoroughly looks for suitable ways to process sound.
He also likes to invent and create something with his own hands and therefore constantly reinvents the wheel.
Link to event details
Spatial Audio Week: Concert 1 in the Uniarts Helsinki event calendar