5 out of 6

This multimedia work is the product of a collaboration between the composer Christopher Trapani and the live video artists from Things Happen.

A fifteen-minute work for six instruments (oboe, saxophones, violin, cello, piano, percussion), live electronics, and live video. The video and electronics are not prerecorded; they are selected and manipulated in real time.

Five movements, each inspired by a lecture in Italo Calvino's Six Memos for the Next Millenium. Musically, this translated to five distinct instrumentations and timbres for the five movements, with all six instrumentalists playing together in the final movement only. Five separate visual narratives are created as well.

On the technical side, the electronics involve a carefully controlled stream of real-time concatenative synthesis, where samples of pre-recorded sound are strung together according to predetermined parameters using the CataRT module developed at IRCAM by Diemo Schwarz. The major innovation of this project is the addition of a precise pitch control, allowing samples to be retuned according to a specified harmonic grid before they are played back. The images are controlled with Modul8, allowing real-time manipulation of multiple layers of video and generative graphics that interact with various musical parameters.

Created for: Computer Music Center Columbia University

Visual development and visual interactive: Iván del Val e Itziar Arriaga
Music compositions and sound interactive: Christopher Trapani
Musicians: Giorgos Theodoropoulos (ob), Guido de Flaviis (sax), Greta Papa (vn), Maria Anisegou (c), Marinos Tranoudakis (perc), Stefanos Nasos (p)