Static Cling
Bill Alves
About this work:
I have been interested in the resonant patterns that emerge from the chaos of our world, in the same way in which you can start to see interesting patterns and shapes in the static screens of interstation tuning. In this piece, I have used a computer to transform the sounds of the nightly ritual chaos of local news broadcasts into abstract timbres and static images into patterns of visual resonance (inspired by my association with computer animation pioneer John Whitney, Sr.). In both cases, the patterns are based on harmonic proportions, known in musical tuning as just intonation. The computer allows me to create tunings which are not fixed, but vary according to the musical context. With this "free style" just intonation, I was able to create various tunings based on the harmonic and sub-harmonic series, contrasted in ways that reflect the transformation of the images. Static Cling was created on the Macintosh with Csound computer music language and POVRAY computer animation language.
Year composed: 2000
Duration: 00:07:48
Ensemble type: Electronic Instruments and Sound Sources:Prerecorded Sound
Instrumentation:
Instrumentation notes: Computer-generated video and sound