Music from SEAMUS Volume 2

various artists compilation - Music from SEAMUS Volume 2

This is the second in a series of annual releases that features the 'best of' works from the annual conferences held by the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS).

Time Mark (1989) composed by Scott A. Wyatt
composition for solo percussion with tape accompaniment
Glenn Schaft - percussion

Within Time Mark, are specific considerations including a continuum of timbre - thus providing for an integration of tape and live sounds without the loss of individuality, and spatial disposition - wherein the location from which the sounds emanate within the performance space is also a parameter of the composition.

Liaisons (1991) composed by Jeffrey Hass
composition for computer-generated tape

Liaisons is constructed from a variety of oboe samples, including key clicks and multiphonics. Digital signal processing, accomplished primarily with Csound and linear predictive coding, was used to explore, dissect, modify, and reassemble these sounds to produce the primary material of the piece. By drastically slowing down some of the oboe samples, intriguing microscopic elements not heard in real-time were isolated and enhanced. The piece, then, is a collaboration between real world sounds and digital technology.

Barroco (1991) composed by Barry Schrader
for harpsichord and electronics
Alissa Rhode - harpsichord

Barroco is the second section of "Excavations", a two-movement work for harpsichord and electronics. It parodies bits and pieces of Baroque harpsichord music, although there are no actual quotations. Structurally, Barroco is in what I call "reverse entropy" form: Fragments of material derived from a one-measure theme presented in the introduction come back in different ways, finally insisting on the stasis of repetition.

Paraptra (1991) composed by Cort Lippe
composition for computer-generated tape

Paraptra, for stereo tape, was created using the program Max, which was developed by Miller Puckette, and whose technical advice made this piece possible. The digital mix was done at IRCAM, Paris, with the valuable assistance of Xavier Bordelais and Franck Rossi. The material for the tape is made up solely of digitally transformed and processed harp and classical guitar sounds. Transformations include: frequency shifting, spatial panning, harmonizing, random amplitude modulating, and time-stretching routines which were written by the composer and Puckette for the 4X real-time signal processor. The piece is characterized by a very wide dynamic range, and contains four main sections.

Amalgam I (1988) composed by Charles Norman Mason
composition for oboe and computer-generated tape
David Weber - oboe

Within Amalgam I, the sounds on the tape capture certain characteristics of the double-reed sound while the oboe expands its sonic possibilities with the use of multiphonics and microtones, thus producing a melding of the two sounds.

Wordscapes (1991) composed by George Todd
composition for computer-generated tape
Word
Water
Green Idea

Wordscapes is a set of etudes each a study of one or two words which have been sampled, analyzed, and re-synthesized using the Synclavier's SEM and re-synthesis program. This unique method of re-synthesis divides the analyzed sound into composer-determined time "frames" each of which is a harmonic spectrum. These spectra elide with the frames before and after them creating a dynamic timbral change. The spectra can be manipulated in a variety of ways. The etudes here - "Word", "Green Idea" and "Water" are based on words spoken by a female voice.

CAUTION TO THE WINDS (1991) composed by James Mobberley
composition for piano with tape accompaniment
Richard Cass - piano

It is the fifth in a series of works which combine a solo instrument with a tape accompaniment comprised only of sounds derived from the solo instrument itself. In this case the piano sounds were recorded and then sampled and manipulated on a Fairlight Series IIX to make the tape part.
CAUTION TO THE WINDS is programmatic only in the broadest sense; the title makes reference to the raw energy that is a major part of the arsenal to be found both in piano music and in electronic music, and reflects the free, quasi-rhapsodic nature of the work. (from the liner notes)

Tracklisting:

1. Scott A. Wyatt - Time Mark {8:54}

2. Jeffrey Hass - Liaisons {5:08}

3. Barry Schrader - Barroco {6:19}

4. Cort Lippe - Paraptra {14:22}

5. Charles Norman Mason - Amalgam I {8:54}

6. George Todd - Wordscapes {5:38}

7. James Mobberley - CAUTION TO THE WINDS {5:33}

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