The poem 'In Flanders' Fields', often read out on Remembrance Sunday, or 'Poppy Day', slightly remixed and edited, given a soundscape that incorporates a four-note section from Vivaldi's 'Summer', and generally remade. Written for CC1, inspired by Monty's example in the lecture on 29/10/13

In Flanders' Fields

8 sound effects for a computer:
Start up
Throwing a file away
Error
Skype call incoming
Email arrived
Pop-up
Task Reminder
Shut down
All made using the ES1, ESP and EFM1 on Logic, and loosely allied to the theme 'Space Mission'

Computer Sound Effects - 'Space Mission'

Kolmanskop, Namibia was the source of inspiration for my third piece. The colourful Dutch ‘toy-town’ was built by the DeBeers diamond mining company in 1908, and abandoned – bowling alley, train station and all – in 1956 when diamond prices crashed. The sand has slowly reclaimed its territory, leaving a ghost town of almost surrealist images, in a very literal way ‘desert-ed’.
(http://www.michaeljohngrist.com/2010/06/dunes-envelop-the-namibian-toytown-of-kolmanskop/#sthash.m2gAbwoV.dpbs)
This picture beautifully sums up the past of the town, with the green of the farthest room suggesting the natural shelter (‘skop’) and small oasis which was once there; the golden light of the middle room showing it’s busy heyday as a cheerful mining town, and then into the blue of the desolation as it was abandoned, all framed in the tattered, half-buried remains of the doorways, as if the town lies remembering and dreaming even as it decays.
The piece begins with a solo oboe – a rustic instrument which has changed little since Tudor times – playing a melancholic melody in a minor key, then harmonising with a second oboe before being joined by a string quartet; a brief pastiche of the kind of chamber ensembles which might once have played in this town. At the height of its climax, however, the oboes and strings fade out, replaced by an ethereal, wispy pad, topped by slightly glitch popping and crackling sound as the sand begins to reclaim the town, a few grains at a time, raining down through cracks, and blown by the swirling wind. A lonely drone instrument, reminiscent of the hurdy-gurdy, joins the pad sound, as if mourning the music that was once played, in a slow, off-key parody as the piece fades away.


Deserted City

The next of my Audiovision Project's pieces.
Sony created this visual masterpiece from 8 million flower petals and a Costa Rican village to market their new 8 million pixel 4K TV (http://www.boredpanda.com/flower-petal-explosion-sony-4k-ultra-hd/). However, I have taken it somewhat out of context, imagining what it would be like if a real volcano did erupt – with flower petals instead of lava.
I began with a rising chromatic scale covering nearly 11 octaves, using a synthesizer which changes its tonal qualities from an almost geological rumbling at the very lowest range, up to a sort of bell-like clanging at the very top. This depicts the ‘volcano’; a low rumbling, slight warnings that something is going to erupt; rising tension as the scale rises and the tempo increases from 300bmp up to 533bpm, before dropping again as the scale climaxes in uncertain warning bells. A brass instruments takes up a warning fanfare, but drops it again as the eruption happens in a stark brassy 7th chord, covering the same almost 11 octave range which the scale just rose up.
Death and destruction appears imminent, and the sky is filled with clouds of – petals! A swirly pad begins as the brass fades out as if in awe and confusion, replaced by rising arpeggios and scales reminiscent of the ‘level up’ or ‘power-up’ sounds from 80s videogames. These serve the threefold purpose of sounding at the same time like a game – joyful and outside reality; sounding ‘pixellated’ – they are reminiscent of 8-bit games – and being rising scales etc, which depict the petals rising up.
These are eventually replaced by similar downward-scale sounds, as the petals flutter to the ground, now that the eruption is over, soon overlaid by a second swirly pad synth, which plays a simple solo melody. This is for peace and tranquility, relief that the volcano didn’t erupt lava, and awe at the beauty of millions of flower petals covering the village in technicolour beauty.
	For me, this piece is one of both joy and confusion; the sound of a ‘level up’ still fills me with a sense of achievement despite not having played a Gameboy in over a decade, but the juxtaposition of so many distinct sounds, and unexpected anticlimaxes recreates the surprise and confusion, yet relief and awe, which one would probably feel if the volcano near one’s village did erupt petals and not lava!


Petal Volcano

This picture of the bioluminescent phytoplankton, which are the science behind the magic of the ‘Sea of Stars’ on Vaadhoo Island in the Maldives, was the inspiration for my 4th piece.
For me, this image conjours a mystical, other-wordly sense, with the sky and sea seemingly switching places in an almost Lewis Carrol-esque way.
I used two simple melody lines, which overlap each other in different instruments through the piece, giving a calm, lapping feel. The pad synths used give a slightly otherworldly, space-y theme, grounded again by the use of the ‘real’ marimba and crotales in the second half.
The high, slightly squeaky synth is intended to depict the ‘stars’, and the use of high tuned percussion was again due to the ‘starry’ or ‘twinkly’ effect this can have.
The global track uses a ‘seashore’ reverb, to give an outdoorsy, open feel to the sound quality.
The piece is intended to show uncertainty, yet calmness; the tranquility of this scene belied by the mysterious glowing ‘stars’.


Sea Of Stars

Inspired by the 'Th13teen' ride at Alton Towers, which has a creepy version of the Teddybears' Picnic

Twinkle Twinkle Creepy Star

An arrangement of the nursery rhyme 'Oh Dear, what can the matter be'

Oh Dear

Now The Day Is Over

Made on Logic in just under two hours total :)

Autumn Path

This track was written about the piano that got burned on Roothill 2014, with added creative license regarding emotional content... It's for Computer Composition 2, and it's not yet finished, but it's about a 6th draft, and I'm starting to get a little stuck... 

Swan Song

This (once it's about double the length and prettier) is hopefully going to be played at my wedding by my sister and cousins while we sign the register
At the moment it's obviously hampered by its rather dull MIDI sounds, but if anyone has any ideas of how i could usefully change it, or what/where i could repeat or add a bride or something... It would be helpful. It's an instrumental piece, but it was inspired by (and mostly fits with) these lyrics...

Home is where the road goes
where the wind blows
where the light still glows from the window panes…

Home is where the path leads
what the heart needs
where feet pick up speed coming home again…

Roots so firm from the family tree
Reaching out to me;
Home for us,
a house full of love
Somewhere we can be…

Home

Home

This piece was my final composition for Computer Composition 3 at the University of Huddersfield, concluding my degree in Music and Sound for Image. I received a mark of 78 for it; a strong first.

Missa Aurantiaca, or Orange Mass, is designed as a liturgical Mass ceremony to celebrate the saints day of St Isidore of Seville, the nominated patron saint of computers, the Internet, and students, which is the 4th of April.

This follows the idea of the existing 'Coloured Masses', which include the Red Mass for lawyers, judges etc; the Blue Mass for those in uniformed public service including Police, Fire Service etc; the White/Rose Mass for those in healthcare; and the Gold Mass for scientists.

I chose St Isidore of Seville as his patronage of both computers and students seemed very appropriate for a Mass designed as a computer composition. As he was from Seville, known for its oranges, and the coat of arms for the Order of St Isidore is red and yellow, the colour orange seemed appropriate, although it is not a traditional liturgical colour.

For this reason and for various others, this piece would be completely inappropriate for performance during an actual Eucharist service in a church, but this is true of most Masses composed since 1900, which are typically for performance and not for worship.

Missa Aurantiaca

Hi, I'm Tania, a final-year Music and Sound for Image student at the University of Huddersfield!
Most of my tracks are Sibelius (the earlier ones) or Logic Pro X (the newer ones), and most of them are for uni assignments.
I hope you enjoy my work, let me know what you think, constructive criticism only please!

Tania Jacquier

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