Debut: November 15, 2007 / 7-10 PM
New York Center for Arts & Media Studies (NYCAMS), New York, NY

• A real time audio environment & composition consisting of harmonically aware synthesized fire
• Accompanied Are You Going to Sweat on my face, again? by Holly Faurot and Sarah Paulson
• 3-hour performance consisting of 10 performers, 3 video monitors, neon, 4-channel video component (live & pre-recorded)

• Developed using the Java Music Specification Language (JMSL), Wire, and Java

The synthesized fire consists of 3 component parts - hiss, crackle, and flame. Each of these parts was designed separately and then combined to give the sonic appearance of a real fire.  The distinctive part of the overall sound is that the flame objects are aware of melodies presented to them.  They listen for a melody to start and once recognized, make harmonic decisions once per measure based on a Markov Chains encoded with statistical breakdowns of Common Practice chord progressions (source: Harmony: Fifth Edition by Walter Piston).  I is more likely to progress to IV or V than it is to VI, but more likely to move to that than II or III.  Traditional rules of Common Practice voice leading were ignored as the glissando between chords obfuscates any harsh transitions.

For the debut performance, pseudo random melodies were introduced every 2-3 minutes with key changes occurring every 5 minutes of so.  The recorded version is just a short 5-minute edit of the longer piece, but I feel as though it relates enough of the longer experience to keep your interested without instilling boredom.

Looking Forward

• Use pitch detection to utilize this same compositional effect on live audio.
• Use human voices for the harmonizing elements
• Alter harmonic timing

Thanks to Holly Faurot, Sarah Paulson, and Nick Didkovsky

~ Available for museum installation/performance ~
~ Please contact me for more information ~