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Students perform in Computer Music Ensemble

Posted on Nov 23, 2009 in Features

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The UAB Computer Music Ensemble performed at the Mary Culp Hulsey Recital Hall Thursday night, Nov. 19, in a fusion of technology and creativity. The program, “Circuit Circus,” featured new works of electro acoustic, experimental music by UAB student composers.

The concert included a performance of Steve Reich’s “Electronic Counterpoint” with a UAB faculty member on guitar and a composition for human synthesizer controlled by a Wii remote. It was a wacky, exciting and weird technological wonder to see the music and computer converge to produce sounds that made the audience feel, analyze and imagine.

The first piece, “Entrance of the Gladiators,” recorded by the Tokyo Wind Orchestra and arranged by Julius Fucik, introduced people to a normal circus musical performance. The Computer Music Ensemble later played a warped version of this piece, with each member varying one section and later recombining their efforts.

In the next performance, senior music technology major Patrick Summey incorporated train sounds, passenger conversations and interrupting announcements, creating a robotic, yet fluid musical tone. “Electric Counterpoint, First Movement” was another highlight of the performance.

The ensemble performed this selection, specifically made for computer music, with the help of Dr. Jeremy Grail, assistant professor of music at UAB.

The Reich composition called for a guitar solo and a pre-recorded 12-member guitar ensemble. The musicians used a repeating synthesizer patch that emulated guitar picking. It was like listening to the radio program, “Echoes” on repeat.

“I Ain’t Lion,” a piece that tells a story of mistaken identity, was a technologically fascinating piece by sound designer and UAB student Justin Wallace. In the piece, a trainer with poor eyesight tries to tame a lion. The lion tries to play along but eventually breaks free from its cage and proclaims it is not a lion but a synthesizer. The computer sent messages to the synthesizer in real time, which in turn sent the audio back to the computer and through the external speakers. It was truly a case of electronic components “talking” to each other.

The last piece, which was truly the most original and mind-blowing, used a Nintendo Wii game controller and its signature cotton gloves to produce a three-ring circus act like no other. One Wii remote received input from the gloves while another controlled the pitch modulations of an audio sample through a laptop. The melodic and harmonic content, modified by each member of the ensemble, joined together. This intriguing performance required the joint efforts of the music and engineering departments to merge the Wii and computer setup.

Musical creativity, a right-brain function, combined effortlessly with analytical and logical left-brain thinking for a successful show.

The performance celebrated both: analysis of music and circuitry set against the humorous delight of circus fun.

Email: gnostic1@uab.edu

 




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