Funktion Cyan

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On the 23rd April 2015 I was invited to participate in an AHRC funded workshop at the Science Museum, exploring Music and Noise.

The concert saw me developing and improvising around material and processes derived from Gottfried Michael Koenig's "Funktion" series. Koenig used a hybrid of tape, voltage control, and computer based algorithmic techniques to compose and realise these pieces which are all based around one 48 step sequence.

For this performance I used a modular synth made from Analogue Systems modules plus an Analogue Systems TH48 sequencer. This was patched into a Metric Halo ULN8 with the matrix patching also including a Boss RC-20 loop pedal and a Bel BD80 delay. The Bel delay has CV and gate inputs so can also be controlled from the modular synth. The laptop was running Ableton Live with Max for Live used to create some of Koenig's algorithms, including a model of the Br?el and Kjaer 1610 bandpass filter, as customised by the Institute of Sonology, and a frequency to amplitude converter of my own design.

Ableton was running various combinations of the 5 basic sound types in about 24 different configurations - algorithms - all triggerable by keys. The modular synth was being controlled by the 48 step sequence, with various parameters being patched in and out, extending Koenig's algorithms to control additional parameters including delay time, step duration and filter frequency.

The other two pieces on the programme were by Aleks Kolkowski and Sarah Angliss, and were absolutely brilliant. Their pieces had so much soul, and contrasted quite dramatically with the more technical nature of the piece I performed.

Audio recording to follow when I find time to mix it...

Venue: 
Science Museum, London