DVD Program Notes

Supplementary Material: Sound and Video Anthology
Computer Music and video Compositions (Paul Doornbusch, curator)

• Track 1 (mov 10 MB) Marvel Q ó Chris Black - 9:07

• Track 2 (mov 8 MB) A Disembodied Voice In [5.1 Surround Sound Radio] Space ó Colin Black - 7:17

• Track 3 (mov 19 MB) Lamentations ó John Young - 16:14

• Track 4 (mov 9 MB) Acorn ó Dave Burraston - 7:39

• Track 5 (mov 5 MB) For Morehu Te Whare ó Ian Whalley - 6:46

• Track 6 (mov 4 MB) Study 101 ó David Hirst - 3:33

• Track 7 (mov 19 MB) Sub ó Peter McIlwain - 16:36

• Track 8 (mov 9 MB) MikroóHasnizam Abdul Wahid - 8:03

• Track 9 (mov 13 MB) les anges du vent ó Lissa Meridan - 11:32

• Track 10 (mov 13 MB) Soft Steps ó Garth Paine - 11:01

• Track 11 (mov 10 MB) Calibanís Dream: Aeolian Erosion ó Jon Drummond - 8:59

• Track 12 (mov 11 MB) C1W ó Paul Doornbusch - 9:28

• Track 13 (mov 27 MB) The Gossima Collective ó Daniel Blinkhorn - 12:25

• Track 14 (mov 22 MB) Alignment Effect ó Mikako Mizuno (music), Taiki Niimi (video), Machiko Kuwabara (bassoon) - 10:02

Part One: Paul Doornbusch, Curator

Curator's Note

For the 2010 issue of the Computer Music Journal DVD, I have curated a selection of works from composers and artists in the Australasian region. The pieces mostly come from Australia and New Zealand, but there are also examples of works from artists living in Malaysia and Japan, and some expatriates now living in other parts of the world, but who identify strongly with their country of origin. In attempting to represent the region in the most contemporary manner, I did seek to include works from emerging and under-represented artists where possible. Some of the works feature a strong identification with their place of origin, whereas others are essentially abstract and void of such references. Along with the standard format of stereo "tape music" works, there are several multichannel pieces and two that include video. They offer a great diversity of aesthetic and technical approaches, and I hope that you enjoy these wonderful pieces.

1. Marvel Q—Chris Black

The source material for Marvel Q consists of electromagnetic activity caused by the interplay between a computer hard drive and numerous hacked analog circuitry. A variety of transducers sensitive to the microscopic intricacies of electromagnetic interference were attached to the exterior surface of a laptop in order to detect the interior sound world of a computer in the act of processing data. These source sounds were then applied to a digital software program for intermediate processing. In the context of this composition, glitch artifacts (in the form of white noise and iterative clicks and pops) are cherished as valued sound events and sound objects. Conceptually, Marvel Q delights in the notion of an "expiring fidelity." For the composer, Marvel Q represents a commentary on the fragile nature of technological media and that media's inevitable passing into obsolescence.

Figure 1.

Chris Black.

Chris Black is a New Zealand-based sound artist. Aside from composing radiophonic works, he is also actively involved in sound installation design and electronic performance theatre. The artist graduated from the New Zealand School of Music in 2009 with a Bachelor of Music (First-class Honours) in Sonic Art/Composition.

2. A Disembodied Voice In [5.1 Surround Sound Radio] Space—Colin Black

The theme of radio and the voices of the dead—or spirits—has emerged time and time again within radio works, but very little radio art work has been developed that utilizes 5.1 surround sound production and broadcast techniques. With this work I artistically explore the idea of "A Disembodied Voice In Space," within the added space or dimension of 5.1 surround sound, as opposed to the monophonic or stereophonic "acoustic frame" that has been chiefly used to date. The work creates an immersive sonic environment that takes the listener inside its constructed sonic world, where the disembodied voice thematically develops the notion of the formless body and instantaneous travel via thought and desire.

Text, musical composition, and sound effects (including location recordings) are given equal weighting...