longclusters

more semi-ambient pieces, for fun!

longclusters1 (mp3 format; 11:11 -- 16.1 Mbytes)
longclusters2 (mp3 format; 11:11 -- 16.1 Mbytes)
longclusters3 (mp3 format; 11:11 -- 16.1 Mbytes)

After the enjoyment I had making the vcvetudes at the end of last year, I decided to continue chasing the 'ambience' out on Whidbey Island. As I mentioned in the vcvetudes commentary, I had been listening to a lot of ambient music on the web while doing work, relaxing, etc. I discovered an odd subculture of ambient music-makers that used DSP techniques to elongate and stretch existing pieces of music. One of the most popular of these algorithms was an FFT technique called "paulstretch". There are many examples of this on-line at YouTube, including this version of Justin Bieber's song U Smile 800% slower than normal, and this marvelously ambient version of Brian Eno's already-ambient installation piece 77 Million Paintings. I've already used the technique myself in parts of my Coronavirus Suite and the piece I wrote for Shai's birth, SSN.

Instead of applying it to an entire piece to create an ambience, I thought it might be interesting to use the "paulstretch" algorithm to build the foundational framework that I would then modify and enhance with additional sounds, similar to what I did in my SSN and Coronavirus pieces, but with a more structural role. I started by recording small scattered clusters of notes (hence the name of these), ranging in length from 1-5 seconds. I then stretched these out to eleven minutes and eleven seconds long. Why 11:11? The first of these pieces I did wound up being that long, and I thought it was a good number. Plus it reflects in part the timing (21:00) of the previous vcvetudes semi-ambient experiments I did.

The first one used a generated sequence of four notes produced by my Eurorack modular system, with a few other notes joining later. All stretched, of course. The 'harmonic arpeggios' appearing about halfway through the piece come from the Mutable Instruments "Plaits" module. The second piece drew from an initial sequence/cluster of notes played on the Hluru drum that I bought for fun a few years ago. About half-way through the piece the Hluru drum sound is joined by a stretched version of a Tibetan Singing Bowl I got as a Christmas present for Jill (our granddaughter Naomi really loves it!). I also brought in some little noisy "bursts" generated by the Mutable Instuments "Beads" module. The final piece stretched a slowly-strummed guitar chord and adds some guitarish-soloing to it.

I enjoyed making these, although I kept 'zoning out' while auditioning the construction process. They are very slowly-moving, but I don't think that's a bad thing in today's world.

Brad Garton
January, 2024