A sound study in four sequences, 15'50'', stereo
2022

"What is a Square Wave" is a study of the possibilities of sound design and arrangement through the exclusive use of analogue square waves. 

It investigates the the different sound textures,  rhythms and sonic possibilities afforded by the source material. This was recorded using a technically relatively simple astable multivibrator that I assembled using Schmitt trigger circuits.

I then digitally processed the approximately 16-minute recording, applying various algorithmic composition techniques. This process resulted in four sound movements, and represents my answer to the question "What is a Square Wave".

WHAT IS A SQUARE WAVE

WHAT IS A SQUARE WAVE i

All That You Touch Changes You
Part of the synonymous exhibition at ßpace, Karlsruhe DE, May 2022.

Cover imagery: Desiree Kabis

All That You Touch Changes You

The Eastern Gate - Pt.1

The Eastern Gate is the first piece in the series, composed of field recordings from the three eponymous 85m tall pyramidal towers. Unchanged since their completion in 1970, the piece offers an insight into the auditory environment of their 1400 inhabitants. 

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“The Eastern Gate” is a sculptural audiovisual installation and three-part soundscape composition for higher-order ambisonics, both of which resulted from a year-long research project. It 
exploes the architectural heritage of socialist futurism in New 
Belgrade, Serbia. Parts I and II of the acousmatic composition resulting from the project were presented in the KUBUS concert hall of the ZKM Karlsruhe in July 2023.

Each part investigates one of three distinctive building complexes in their role as cultural artifacts - fragments fixed in space yet divorced from a bygone ideological reality.

The overwhelming scale and structural diversity of the decaying tectonic fabric is explored through field recordings and video footage taken over a six-month period. Three curved concrete sculptures serve as projection surfaces and as acoustic resonators for the generative multi-channel composition.

Individual sounds and images are introduced as unprocessed, documentary exposition, followed by modulation of the recordings as audio-visual material. In this way, the piece moves between lifelike representation and utopian architectural composition.

The Eastern Gate - Pt. 1 (The Eastern Gate) - Binaural Mix

Pt. II - Блок23

A densely inhabited group of towers at the entrance to New Belgrade comprise Blok 23. The hum of the nearby motorway remains ever audible. I walk up the 23 floors of one of the towers. The further up I go, the more personalised the hallways become, an extension of their owners apartments. The top two floors are filled with potted palms, children's toys, and ski boots. 
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“The Eastern Gate” is a sculptural audiovisual installation and three-part soundscape composition for higher-order ambisonics, both of which resulted from a year-long research project. It 
exploes the architectural heritage of socialist futurism in New 
Belgrade, Serbia. Parts I and II of the acousmatic composition resulting from the project were presented in the KUBUS concert hall of the ZKM Karlsruhe in July 2023.

Each part investigates one of three distinctive building complexes in their role as cultural artifacts - fragments fixed in space yet divorced from a bygone ideological reality.

The overwhelming scale and structural diversity of the decaying tectonic fabric is explored through field recordings and video footage taken over a six-month period. Three curved concrete sculptures serve as projection surfaces and as acoustic resonators for the generative multi-channel composition.

Individual sounds and images are introduced as unprocessed, documentary exposition, followed by modulation of the recordings as audio-visual material. In this way, the piece moves between lifelike representation and utopian architectural composition.

The Eastern Gate - pt. 2 (Блок23) - Binaural mix

Pt. III - Genex

Genex uses impulse responses recorded in a gutted 36-storey tall ventilation shaft, the base of which was once a restaurant. Today, the ceiling is gone. With only structural support beams remaining, it has become the refuge of pigeons and plastic bags carried by gusts of wind.

The resonant frequencies of the windy shaft and adjacent motorway are extracted and emphasised against the backdrop of the multitude of dripping cooling units that tirelessly keep the apartments ventilated.

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“The Eastern Gate” is a sculptural audiovisual installation and three-part soundscape composition for higher-order ambisonics, both of which resulted from a year-long research project. It 
exploes the architectural heritage of socialist futurism in New 
Belgrade, Serbia. Parts I and II of the acousmatic composition resulting from the project were presented in the KUBUS concert hall of the ZKM Karlsruhe in July 2023.

Each part investigates one of three distinctive building complexes in their role as cultural artifacts - fragments fixed in space yet divorced from a bygone ideological reality.

The overwhelming scale and structural diversity of the decaying tectonic fabric is explored through field recordings and video footage taken over a six-month period. Three curved concrete sculptures serve as projection surfaces and as acoustic resonators for the generative multi-channel composition.

Individual sounds and images are introduced as unprocessed, documentary exposition, followed by modulation of the recordings as audio-visual material. In this way, the piece moves between lifelike representation and utopian architectural composition.

The Eastern Gate - pt. 3 (Genex) - Binaural Mix

Staňkovice Reverie is a site-specific composition that reconstructs the sonic narrative of Staňkovice, a village in north-western Bohemia, exploring the intertwining layers of personal, cultural, and historical memory that reverberate in and around the Löbl family manor.

Tracing the history of the house, the work weaves together voice fragments from interviews with Jan and Eva Löbl, interposing field recordings captured in the local area and archival material sourced from shellac records housed in the Ústí nad Labem city archive, creating a dialogue between the land, the architecture, and the people who live there.

Collaboration with composer and sound journalist Heu Hsu during the 2024 Phonon Spatial Audio Residency.

Premiered at the Melusines Ambisonic Concert, 27.7.24, National House, Ústí nad Labem

Stankovice Reverie - Binaural Mix

Coming and Going

They come and they go, shapes brushing past, real until they aren't, banks of mist within your grasp. A gulf you find between you, into whose yielding gullet you readily slide, out, out alone, out to the other side.

Featuring:
Ron Veprik (double bass)
Noémie Pestre (cello)

"Coming and Going" is a wavefield synthesis composition for double bass, cello, and electronics that explores the gradual transformation of sound. The piece is anchored around the low D note of the double bass, whose harmonic spectrum slowly unravels, revealing a progression from rich tonalities to pure noise. Through FFT-based processing, the recordings undergo spectral manipulation, sculpting the sonic textures in real-time. The performers navigate graphical musical notation, employing a variety of timbral techniques and expressive gestures, freely associating between them to create a fluid, evolving soundscape. The composition premiered at the 2024 WFS Festival at Amare, Den Haag (NL).

Coming And Going (WFS -> Stereo Downmix)

KippleGEN, or The Empathy Box
2024

The first law of Kipple is...Kipple drives out nonkipple. Other forms of the word; Kipple-ized, kipple-factor, and kippleization. Even people can turn into "living kipple".

KippleGEN, or The Empathy Box is a generative ambient wavetable synthesizer and sequencer inspired by the cyberpunk aesthetic and atmosphere of 1980s sci-fi film scores. Drawing on themes of decay and renewal from the dystopian landscapes of Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the program generates an evolving sci-fi soundscape whose lush synth tones echo a futuristic yet degenerate world.

KippleGEN, or The Empathy Box (Synth Demo Stereo)

Most recent performance of my piece Flicker, recoreded in the library of West Den Haag as part of the 2025 Rewire Festival. Featuring vocals for the first time, something I'm looking forward to exploring further in the future!

Flicker is a continuously evolving snapshot my ongoing exploration of the potential of composing and performing with light as sound. Developed since March 2024, the work centers on an optical synthesis system that directly translates modulated light into audio signals, creating an intimately proximate dialogue where the two mediums converge.

The system employs LED light sources and solar panels to generate electric currents which transform light variations into sound signals. By modulating the electrical current supplied to the LED, I generate rich and varying waveforms, which are then subject to further processing and spatialisation. The system enables me to sculpt the dynamics in the interplay between the light and sound, creating an immersive sensory experience.

With the performance, I aim to reflect both the interconnected artistic and technical dimensions of this exploration, to bring the audience into the world of this very fundamental approach to electronic sound synthesis, and open a window into my own intuitive approach to the process of composing and working with this system. 

More info at https://lythgoe.studio/flicker/

Audio recording by Toke Nielsen
Picture by @its.just.luca

Flicker live @ Rewire Festival 2025

1-take ambient improv from this afternoon. First time playing guitar again in what feels like forever. I usually steer clear of artificial reverb, but this one dives all the way in. No mixing went into this, so excuse the sibilance. Kind of digging the oversaturation at times though.

The track image is taken from a lithographic limestone print/sketch I made in the summer of 2023.

Daniel L. Lythgoe

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