ï~~UNRUHIGE RAUME - SPATIAL ELECTROACOUSTIC COMPOSITION
THROUGH A COLLABORATIVE ARTISTIC RESEARCH PROCESS
Pascal Baltazar
GMEA
4, rue Sainte Claire
81000 Albi, France
pb @gmea.net
ABSTRACT
This paper presents the creative process behind the collaborative work Unruhige Rdume and the tools used to realize it. Set as a piece for three computer instrumentalists and
a 12-channel speaker system, Unruhige Rdume is an electroacoustic work employing synthesis, sampling, processing and spatial projection in live performance. The piece is
developed continuously until its premiere in March 2011.
Connecting their process to ideas and concepts found
in philosophy, soundscape studies and music theory, composers and performers Habbestad and Baltazar present key
challenges and choices made during the first periods of development, as well as instrumental design and composition
aspects. They also address their approach towards defining
a shared language to describe materials and compositional
methods in use before sketching future work directions, and
perspectives on the collaborative nature of the process.
1. INTRODUCTION
BjOrnar Habbestad
BEK
C. Sundtsgt. 55
5004 Bergen, Norway
bjornar@bek.no
task in the commission to explore spatial perception, formed
the basis of the project.
1.3. Early experiences
After the first meeting, a concert of improvised music in
early 2009, it became clear that maintaining a high degree
of performative action and live control of the sonic material was not compatible with the desired amount of spatial
realization. This led to the inclusion of sound engineer B.
Maumus who has since been a vital element in the project.
2. INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT
Both composers are developing live software and hardware
systems to support their performance practice. Both also
consider electroacoustic instrumental design as an important
part of their compositional process.
2.1. Respirator
Respirator 1is an electroacoustic performance environment
combining custom made software and hardware to facilitate
real time synthesis and processing interaction between SuperCollider and Bjornar Habbestad's electroacoustic flute.
The aim of the Respirator environment is to fuse a microphonic approach to flute playing with digital sound processing and synthesis. More precisely, it is is a multimodal
performance environment for real time synthesis and processing interaction between SuperCollider[3] and microphonic
flute playing, where the flute is used as an acoustic sound
generator, a gesture controller and a mechano-acoustic controller of acoustic feedback. It has a dedicated routing and
control system for multiple microphone sources, and a modally
changeable set of controllers, pedals, knobs and switches.
'http://respira2or.wordpress.com/
1.1. Context of the work
The authors were commissioned in 2009 to collaborately
compose and develop a work, fusing live electroacoustic
music with realtime spatialization in a creative process, drawing both on compositional and improvisational strategies.
The work is conceived as a collaborative artistic research
process with a series of 6 residencies over a period of two
years. Public presentations are being made as milestones in
the development process from the start of the project until
the presentation of the completed work in 2011.
1.2. Musical background
Some shared points of interest mark the starting point for
this collaboration. The authors have both worked extensively on fusing composition and improvisation in different
ways, through solo and collective projects. Electroacoustic
instrumental design is also an important part of their musical
statement, along with the development of adapted composition techniques. These concerns, along with the specified
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