Transductions is a forthcoming album by Alex White of modular controlled Diskclavier – an acoustic piano that can be controlled by an external MIDI source. The modular synthesiser is producing the MIDI data through an improvised performance of a generative patch design. This video offers a great demonstration of how it all works. It’s a fascinating concept and a really unique method to approach acoustic experimentation and the notion of composition.
Alex White is a sound, video, interactive installation artist, and modular synth enthusiast. He has performed at Liquid Architecture, The Now NOW Festival and This Is Not Art amongst numerous others. He also collaborates with Ben Byrne in the noisy highly synthetic duo Nadir.
This is what he has to say about Transductions:
“The compositions for Transductions were produced using simple analog components such as low-frequency oscillators (LFO), wavefolders, clock dividers and sample and hold circuits, interconnected to create complex dependencies and feedback loops, resulting in precarious systems that respond erratically to subtle interventions. Perhaps echoing Joel Chadabe’s description of performing with his own electronic music systems as being akin to ‘sailing a boat on a windy day and through stormy seas’. (The Cambridge Companion to Electronic Music).”
Transductions will be released by the ever reliable Room40 on the 5th of June. You can find it here.
