Liminal BCN

2012 | 16-channel | 13′

Created for Zeppelin Expandit 2012. Presented at CCCB (Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona), 30.11.2012

Two pieces based on source materials from the archive BarcelonaSoLimit by Orquestra del Caos, consisting of field recordings made in the geographical limits of Barcelona.

The work explore notions related with perception of sound and space and compositional strategies based on the manipulation of broadband field recordings. A selection of fragments from recordings in the archive are processed and (re)combined dynamically into an immersive 16-channel sound field surrounding the listeners.

The work is created with a custom software programmed with Max/MSP. The tool combines several audio streams which are divided in real-time into multiple frequency bands and independently routed to any of the output channels following all sorts of possible combinations. Algorithms based on cellular automata are used to generate dynamic patterns of change which control these processes.

The two pieces are studies based on the exploration of possible combinations of parameters and source materials. The first one focuses on ambiences where recognizable and natural sounds are predominant, using patterns with a chaotic behavior. The second is based on saturated noisy ambiences, such as those on which traffic sounds are predominant, in combination with patterns with a strong recurrent behavior.