Spectral Variations 4 (for Francesca) uses the idea of theme and variations. The theme is pre-composed for orchestral instruments, but the variations, four in this case, are in the form of spectral variations. The result is a series of evolving timbres that create a meditative style of work for contemplative listening. The work is a part of a larger project being created with collaborator Peter Mounsey, and is dedicated to the memory of Francesca Woodman, who is best known for her black and white photography of herself and other female figures in unusual settings. Francesca died tragically suicide at the age of 22 in 1981.

Spectral Variations 4 for Francesca

Contrasting natural with human made sounds, earth with water sounds, and short with sustained sounds, this work aims to provide a flavor of the Portugese region of Viseu, with a move from natural soundscape to a more abstract sound world. Imaginação de Viseu (Imaginations of Viseu) is an electroacoustic music work composed for the project: SONIC EXPLORATIONS OF A RURAL ARCHIVE - Electroacoustic Music and Sound Art International Competition, coordinated by Binaural/Nodar (Portugal). The work uses sound sources recorded in the rural region of Viseu Dão Lafões in Portugal. Beginning with the natural sounds of frogs from Mosteirinho, human steps enter from Azival in Cepões. Then we hear community washing water flow in Calde de Varzim, granite blocks by the Santo Amaro road in Nelas-Cepões, the processed sound of a Chapel Gate in Freixo Lady Street in Sanguinhedo of Côta, the sound of experimentation on tinplate found near the Aerodrome Street in Nelas-Cepões, and clapping in the Chapel of Our Lady of Health in Farminhão. All of these sounds are bound together with subtle electronic processing, and the work culminates in a chorus of sustained bell sounds sourced from Ribafeita, Mosteirinho, and Couto de Baixo. The work makes extensive use of space using the Ambisonic Toolkit software developed by Joseph Anderson's team at the University of Washington.

Imaginação De Viseu

This is the first of 3 studies that explore bowl sounds and electronics. In this piece, the separate bowl and storm sounds mutate until the rain drops 'play' the bowl sounds.

Study 101 Thunderbowl

The Portuguese Suite follows on from the piece Imaginação de Viseu (Imaginations of Viseu) which was composed for the project: SONIC EXPLORATIONS OF A RURAL ARCHIVE - Electroacoustic Music and Sound Art International Competition, coordinated by Binaural/Nodar (Portugal). The Portuguese Suite takes some of the sounds from the previous piece and processes them into purely abstract sounds using two suites of tools I developed in 2017 for Max/MSP. The first suite of tools is called NES-Tools, and processes sound in the time domain. The second suite of tools, NES-Spectrale, processes the frequency domain representation, and builds on the work of Jean-François Charles (2011).

Portuguese Suite

Literally the artificial pyrotechnist, Artificier artificiel explores artificial life. Although the sounds used are recordings of ordinary, everyday sounds, the work draws upon the flight patterns of a flock of artificial birds. The sound component consists of a 2-dimensional landscape of sounds laid out in a grid. As the birds fly over this landscape, a single bird may ‘see’ a sound-making object – a cow or a car. If it does, it will ‘hear’ a cow sound or a car sound.

Artificier artificiel is a laptop performance work, with sounds and images created in real-time. This version was recorded in real-time in a single pass.


Artificier artificiel

Study 102: Scrabbling is the second of three studies for bowl and computer. Study 102: Scrabbling uses scraping bowl sounds with movement and processing.

Study 102 Scrabbling

Study 103: Reson is the third of Three Studies for Bowl and Computer. It is probably the most ‘electronic’ sounding of the three studies, but it still uses the bowls as the source sounds.

Study 103 Reson

Pierre and Frank is dedicated to two of the most original composers of the twentieth century: Pierre Boulez and Frank Zappa. Although their life trajectories were quite different, one an orchestral conductor and the other a rock musician, their paths crossed through their compositional activities. Pierre Boulez founded the French research institute IRCAM in 1977 and conducted several tracks on the Zappa album The Perfect Stranger in 1984.
Part 1 (Pierre) is a more homogenous electronic style work, which is not really an emulation of a Boulez piece, but is a nod to his use of electronics.
The Boulez image  file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication

Pierre and Frank(Part 1 Pierre)

Pierre and Frank is dedicated to two of the most original composers of the twentieth century: Pierre Boulez and Frank Zappa. Although their life trajectories were quite different, one an orchestral conductor and the other a rock musician, their paths crossed through their compositional activities. Pierre Boulez founded the French research institute IRCAM in 1977 and conducted several tracks on the Zappa album The Perfect Stranger in 1984.
Part 2 (Frank) uses drums, bass, and a lead instrument in a form that begins with a solid drum back beat, then morphs into a duet between drums (percussion) and lead instruments, followed by a duet between lead and bass, before a final return to solid drum beat, bass line and lead synths.
[Frank Zappa picture by Jean-Juc: The image file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license]

David Hirst 1

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