The musical composition for Erwachen heiterer Empfindungen bei der Ankunft auf dem Lande (Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arrival in the countryside) is based on the exploration of a single model for sound synthesis: sine waves as input for a feedback circuit through delay lines, ring modulators and filters. This sound-synthesis model was developed by Jaap Vink in the 1970s–1980s in the analogue studio at the Institute of Sonology in Utrecht, and has been implemented digitally in the Kyma programming environment by me in 2001 (see also E pur si move….)
By changing the sine wave and filter frequencies, a wide variety of sounds can be created that are not static, but because of the non-linearity of the feedback circuit gradually change over time. Sudden changes occur when all parameters of the model are set to new values.
Marianne Dekker’s images for Erwachen heiterer Empfindungen bei der Ankunft auf dem Lande show similarities with the musical material in the sense that here too, a dynamic process lies at the basis of the material: hanging physical objects were set to motion and generated patterns based on gravity. The video footage of these patterns was further transformed, rendering the objects themselves into unrecognizability while emphasizing their colours and behaviours. Both the music and the image, but especially their combination when projected on multiple screens and played through loudspeakers surrounding the audience, make reference to the concept of ‘landscape’: not in the literal sense as in Ludwig van Beethoven’s Pastorale symphony, but as a metaphor for any kind of immersive environment, be it natural, technological or purely imaginative.
Erwachen heiterer Empfindungen bei der Ankunft auf dem Lande was premiered at NK Berlin in October 2014.
year: 2014
duration: 15:27
tracks: 8 + video