When I started to compose with Knurl as a matter of exercise, I realized that each composition, has its own rules and demands, was helping me to test the goals planned for the interface. As a matter of fact, It was from simple necessities such as stop, restart of one voice or multiple ones that made the interface get into a concrete shape. A lot of testing cycles between interface and compositions were experienced from this relationship.
In time, composing and idealizing structure from the beginning of any musical exploration became redundant. I started to reflect about the role of defining and organizing sound structures; especially in a way that coincided with Knurl’s development in order to reflect my interest in creating systems that allow greater freedom and manipulation. The role of traditional composition seemed to be also part of this practice. In line with what Baalman says:
‘The views on what an instrument and what a composition is seem to overlap—if we compare the statements of Behrman and Mumma (compositions existing purely in hardware), Waisvisz (calling the mapping of digital instruments the main artistic area) and the discussion on interactive music systems. (Baalman, 2019)
If music composition became part of an iterative prototype or the testing of a mapping, I felt testing and improvising more often music ideas until adding it into the paper, if needed. In this way, the moment of formating sound structures became a special rediscovered experience to be documented in this research.
3.4.1. Practice
In the practice of establishing sound patterns for electronic sounds, there has been two processes experienced in this research: the first was derived by an oriented system and the other by a sequencer.
In the oriented system, electronic sounds are triggered by the performer and each action is part of a composition. Choosing this approach in the artworks Idalina or Scorpio point has made me spend most of my time dedicating myself to customize specific structures into the interface mapping. At the same time, it made me think about every gesture of the performer, encouraging me to work with music composition as a global practice.
In a system based on a planned sequence of events (sequencer), electronic sounds are happening without the intervention of the performer, generating triggers based on time. After the artwork Idalina, I decided a few months later (September, 2021) to explore this possibility and simplify the work for the performer by composing fixed sequences (using a task to guide the performer into each interaction). This process of composing this piece resulted in a new album called Chasing breath, where most electronic sounds have much more independence of rules, layers and behaviors to be guided and maintained by one musician. In some tracks, I also added a few open score parts (improvised) that specially involve electronics for the moments where the interface had still few problems.
3.1.3. Artistic Result
Composing using Knurl and its interface has allowed me to overcome each iteration applying fixed structures into the system’s design. Over the course of this research, the results have crossed over with many other testing cycles, which helped me to understand the whole application
- Scorpio's point
Scorpio's point is an artwork of the album Chasing breath that I started to test a mix between establishing sounds as a sequencer and an oriented system. Since this work requires flexibility towards and interaction, this composition is supported by a machine listening mechanism that controls the levels and the counterpoint movement of the electronic sounds. This mechanism also triggers each task of a sequencer, generated by specific sound triggers when played on the instrument.