Dimitris Talarougas : synths, samples
Vassilis Roupas : Live editing of parameters of a repeating pattern

Photo : Dimitris Talarougas

Beating wings.wav by juskiddink -- https://freesound.org/s/125940/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

"Butterfly Dream" is an experimental electronic journey inspired by the ancient Daoist philosopher Zhuangzi’s famous reverie—where he dreamt he was a butterfly, only to awaken in uncertainty: Was he a man who dreamt of wings, or a butterfly now dreaming of being human?

This piece mirrors that fluid paradox through shifting sonic layers. A hypnotic, ever-mutating rhythm pulses beneath fluttering granular textures, evoking the delicate beat of wings. Ethereal Chinese-inspired melody—played on trembling, detuned synths—drift like half-remembered dreams, while dissonant clusters and atmospheric drones blur the boundaries between reality and illusion. Recordings of flapping dissolve into glitched whispers, as if the dream itself is unraveling.

Is this music the dreamer or the dream? Press play, and let the riddle linger...

Zhuangzi’s Butterfly Dream

3rd Prize at Iannis Xenakis International Electronic Music Competition 2025

PROGRAM NOTES 
Everything you hear in this piece tonight is not real. Here’s a sonic kaleidoscope unfolds before your ears, made of synthetic reflections. Sound after sound is extracted from the human collective memory. Composed entirely of generative AI fragments—hundreds of them—this piece uses an algorithm that has hoovered up the music of every artist ever recorded, non-consensually incorporating it into an artificially constructed representation of collective memory. Feeding this algorithm with fragments of my own music spits out a conjured stream of sound drawn from the codified collective mind.
But do not be fooled. 
This is not Music.
This is Fake.

 
ADDITIONAL INFO
AI-Generated Fragments as Synthetic Reflections of Collective Memory

"Fake" (2024) is a multi-channel electroacoustic non-music piece created entirely using AI-generated fragments. By feeding a generative AI algorithm segments of the composer's electroacoustic composition “Cosmodemonia” (2022) the work explores artificial intelligence as a vessel for representing collective memory. 

The resulting composition presents a sonic kaleidoscope of synthetic reflections extracted from human collective memory, questioning notions of musical authenticity. 
The compositional methodology combines generation, collection and organization of AI-generated fragments and their spatial distribution.
The work reexamines the concept of what is “real” in music; it is an acousmatic narrative in which each element may be a fragment of the past or a simulacrum of the present.
The listener is invited to navigate—through perception—a constructed sonic kaleidoscope of synthetic reflections drawn from the human collective memory, composed entirely of over 300 generative AI fragments. All of them generative reflections on the composer’s work, 'Cosmodemonia'.
Whether or not it qualifies as music, it is a reflective commentary on the deep learning representation of collective memory, and the act of attributing musical meaning to organised sound.  
Spatial counterpoint is developed through spatialization of the generative layers. The structure creates multiple, simultaneous spatial trajectories—each representing a discrete fragment of collective memory, a distinct presence in the overall soundscape.
A sonic battle of ideas unfolds between structured, stable sections and bursts of chaotic energy—emerging from interconnected chains of thought within the latent space of AI memories—a reimagining of traditional counterpoint in a multidimensional synthetic sonic space. Spatial choreography guides, misdirects and then redirects the listener’s attention—up, down, across.

Μulti-channel Εlectroacoustic Νon-Μusic

Fake (2024)

Pulses is an acousmatic piece based on the iteration of different pulses, in many different contexts, and transformations.
The piece was commissioned by Projecto DME (Dias de Música Electroacústica). 


Pulses

Vassilis Roupas: Synths, Arpeggiators, Rainsounds 
Dimitris Talarougas: Synths, Watersounds, Prepared Piano

A fluid, ever-shifting soundscape embodying the essence of water—formless yet powerful, soft yet unstoppable. Just as water takes the shape of its container, this composition flows between structured lines and free-form experimentation, blending prepared piano sliders, deep drones, and organic textures (ocean waves, rain, droplets) with distinctive arpeggiators.
Inspired by **Taoist philosophy**, **martial arts' softness overcoming rigidity**, and **TCM's** (Traditional Chinese Medicine) view of water as a life force, the track mirrors the element’s adaptability—gentle in stillness, relentless in motion. Emotionally, water reflects our inner states: calm surfaces or turbulent depths, just as the human body (nearly **80% water**) carries memory, rhythm, and resilience.
Field recordings merge with glitchy imperfections, embracing the **"liveness"** of improvisation—each listen reveals new currents. A sonic meditation on **flow, surrender, and the quiet strength found in yielding**.

WATER ELEMENT

FROM: Music performance for violin, cello and narrator by Maria Aloupi & Andreas Diktyopoulos based on the literary work Z213: EXIT from the Dimitris Lyacos' poetic trilogy Poena Damni. 
Composition: Maria Aloupi & Andreas Diktyopoulos
Performed by the Das Neue Ensemble, Germany (violin & cello)
Stage Performance: Dimitris Lignadis

Recorded: Saturday 9th October, 2010 @ Athens, Greece

http://about-art.gr/?lang=en&q=other&id=o101009

Z213:EXIT - Chapter 8 [part 33-end]

Andreas Diktyopoulos