FRANK STEMPER, COMPOSER
Rural American Sound Bytes (1994)
for Computers, synthesizers, samplers, and processors
35 movements
[7 hours]
Commissioned by Carbondale Community Arts for ARTS IN CELEBRATION '94
Produced under support of a Regional Arts Fellowship – from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
Premiered during by Arts In Celebration ‘94
Opus 34 —A.S.C.A.P. work I.D.
SCORE
Produced under support of a Regional Arts Fellowship – from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
Premiered during by Arts In Celebration ‘94
Opus 34 —A.S.C.A.P. work I.D.
SCORE
Sonic Installation in 35 movements for Computer, synthesizers, samplers, and processors
——with live sampled audience interaction.
Installation duration: 7 consecutive hours.
MIDI sequenced playback, using quickly edited and processed samples of the ever-changing audience as the entire "Electronic Orchestra."
Supported, in part, by a RAP Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
RURAL AMERICAN SOUND BYTES (1994) is a 7-hour piece(!) – commissioned to be a sonic installation for a regional arts festival in Illinois. It is composed for computer, several synthesizers, samplers, and processors - with the audience supplying most of the actual sound material.
The piece was performed in a large tent at the outdoor arts festival. The tent contained mostly empty space, for the audience to wander around and listen. The quadraphonic sound came from the four corners of the tent, and as the audience moved about they would hear slightly different versions of the “music.” On one side was the electronic set-up, computers, etc., and the composer with five assistants. The set-up also contained a small, soundproof recording booth, created for the installation. A pre-composed twelve movement, twelve-track MIDI sequence began with twelve MIDI patches (from the synthesizers) used as the instruments. As the festival folks wandered in, they were ushered, one at a time, into the recording booth and instructed to make any sound they desired – with their voice or anything else. Sometimes the recorded “sample” was a short, single sound, sometimes it was a longer phrase or even song. (One fellow sang some Wagner.) That recording was analyzed, edited, and transformed quickly into a sample, which was fed into one of the awaiting synthesizers. Each of these NEW sampled MIDI patches then took the place of one of the original twelve patches, performing one of the twelve musical parts, and became part of the overall music in the tent. For seven hours, the instruments, digitally performing the continuous music, gradually changed as the audience changed. The effect if you were a member of the ever-changing audience was to walk into the tent, listen to the sound, then work up the nerve to create one of the “instruments,” waiting and listening for a while longer, and, finally, hearing yourself become part of ménage. It was great fun.
The composer was supported by a RAP fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to create this project.
——with live sampled audience interaction.
Installation duration: 7 consecutive hours.
MIDI sequenced playback, using quickly edited and processed samples of the ever-changing audience as the entire "Electronic Orchestra."
Supported, in part, by a RAP Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
RURAL AMERICAN SOUND BYTES (1994) is a 7-hour piece(!) – commissioned to be a sonic installation for a regional arts festival in Illinois. It is composed for computer, several synthesizers, samplers, and processors - with the audience supplying most of the actual sound material.
The piece was performed in a large tent at the outdoor arts festival. The tent contained mostly empty space, for the audience to wander around and listen. The quadraphonic sound came from the four corners of the tent, and as the audience moved about they would hear slightly different versions of the “music.” On one side was the electronic set-up, computers, etc., and the composer with five assistants. The set-up also contained a small, soundproof recording booth, created for the installation. A pre-composed twelve movement, twelve-track MIDI sequence began with twelve MIDI patches (from the synthesizers) used as the instruments. As the festival folks wandered in, they were ushered, one at a time, into the recording booth and instructed to make any sound they desired – with their voice or anything else. Sometimes the recorded “sample” was a short, single sound, sometimes it was a longer phrase or even song. (One fellow sang some Wagner.) That recording was analyzed, edited, and transformed quickly into a sample, which was fed into one of the awaiting synthesizers. Each of these NEW sampled MIDI patches then took the place of one of the original twelve patches, performing one of the twelve musical parts, and became part of the overall music in the tent. For seven hours, the instruments, digitally performing the continuous music, gradually changed as the audience changed. The effect if you were a member of the ever-changing audience was to walk into the tent, listen to the sound, then work up the nerve to create one of the “instruments,” waiting and listening for a while longer, and, finally, hearing yourself become part of ménage. It was great fun.
The composer was supported by a RAP fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to create this project.