Excerpt from String Quartet
Performed live in Rock Hall Auditorium, Philadelphia 
by the fabulous Momenta String Quartet in 2007

String Quartet (Excerpt)

Over two short movements Track exploits the non-linear nature of the inner ear in relation to the phenomenon of pitch perception within complex non-periodic sounds. Through both knowledge of bandwidth phenomena in relation to basilar membrane functions of the inner ear combined with specific equalisation, filtering and spectral masking procedures, this work involves the generation of formant regions with specific centre frequencies and modulating bandwidths which the listener's ears will unintentionally track throughout the duration of the piece.

Part 1: 'Pitched' Non-Periodicity 
(3:59)

The source material for this work is solely comprised of pouring water, dragging metallic pipes, chains and glasses, all of which exhibit inharmonic waveforms. 'Pitched' Non-Periodicity forces the listener's ears to move from being passive receivers of spectral information to becoming active participants in the realisation of this work. While much is known regarding the science of the listening process, a lot remains to be discovered in relation to the full extent of the non-linear nature of the inner ear and this work seeks to employ such concepts at the heart of its creative methodology. As the listener's ears become instruments in the performance of this piece, a bridge is formed between the physicality of the listener and the loudspeakers with the sound waves now behaving as sonic stimuli which place the inner ear of the listener at the forefront of the work itself.

Part 2: Percolated Audio
(4:12)

In contrast to the opening movement this section is comprised predominantly of synthetic sounds which also includes harmonic material for the first time in this work. An added emphasis is placed here on the listener's ability to track peak frequencies within inharmonic material as this section demonstrates a significantly reduced sound world in relation to timbral colour. Percolated Audio explores a heavy use of filtered sounds with moveable bandwidths which present the inner ear with a new dilemma as the listener is exposed to more direct sounds which often appear to already have clear centre frequencies yet the movement of the filters causes the listener's ears to track the extremities of the bandwidths rather than conducting more simple pitch tracking procedures. 


Track

The Maid of Culmore
Irish folk song | Joseph Gregorio, arranger
Published by Walton Music in the Amanda Quist Choral Series
http://www.giamusic.com/search_details.cfm?title_id=28691
Catalog no. WW1618

Ensemble Companio
Joseph Gregorio, cond.

The Maid of Culmore | Joseph Gregorio

Putt'n Around was composed in response to David McIntire and Irritable Hedgehog's Putney Project . The work uses material derived from David's early exposure to the EMS VCS-3, also know as the "Putney."

Putt'n Around

Ryan Olivier (b. 1985) grew up in the southern United States. Born in New Orleans and moving shortly thereafter, he eventually returned to his birthplace to pursue compositional studies at Loyola University’s College of Music with James Walsh. Upon graduation he journeyed north to study at Temple University where he is currently a doctoral student studying with Maurice Wright. Ryan has also studied with Samuel Adler in Berlin and with Kevin Puts and Robert Aldridge at the Brevard Music Center. His concert works have been performed by the Momenta Quartet, the Cygnus Ensemble, and the New Orleans New Music Ensemble. As a member of Melos Music, both ensemble39 and members of Nonsemble 6 have performed his work on the annual new music concert and both works are featured on the Melos Music CD series. In addition to his concert works, his various interests have led him to work with a wide array of media including electronics, video, and dance. His work has been featured at Miami’s 12 Nights Festival, Cybersounds, POD's Mixed Drinks, Pennsylvania State University’s Crosscurrents Festival, Society of Composers, Inc. (SCI) National and Regional Conferences, the New York City Electro-acoustic Music Festival (NYCEMF), Electronic Music Midwest (EMM), the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS) National Conference, the International Workshop on Computer Music and Audio Technology (WOCMAT) in Taiwan, and the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC) in the United Kingdom. While Ryan enjoys composing for both traditional concert ensembles and fixed media, he is currently working to incorporate real-time interaction between live performers and visualized electronic music to create interactive multimedia works. 

String Quartet (Excerpt)

Ryan Olivier

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