RSS Feeds

Earth Science

Space Science

Life Science

Fields of Scientific Study

Nanotechnology

Cancer

Definitions of The Fields of Scientific Study

Signal Ruins: Sound Art Performance Works by Matthew Burtner | DVD

Starring: Juraj Kojs, Aniseh Burtner, Matthew Burtner, Dustin Thompson
Directed By: Matthew Burtner

List Price:

$19.95

Available:

Usually ships in 24 hours

Binding:

DVD

Run Time:

70 minutes

Format:

Surround Sound, NTSC

Studio:

EcoSono

Number of Discs:

Release Date:

December 02, 2008

Sales Rank:

231,422st

EDITORIAL REVIEWS

Product Description
EcoSono presents video performances of sound art works by Alaskan-born composer Matthew Burtner. The film includes the mysterious Signal Ruins I and II for piano, percussion, noise generators and computer sound performed by the composer with Aniseh Khan-Burtner, Juraj Kojs and video editing by Dustin Thompson. The disk also features the works That which is bodiless is reflected in bodies for Tibetan bowl and surround computer sound; and Prismic Generations for video and computer sound. Switzerland s La Liberte calls the music the mystical evocation of a magician of sonorous spaces. and New York s New Music Connoiseur says that Burtner presents completely new sound patterns and sonic ideas suggesting an entirely revised organization of tones unlike anything in our musical past. The musical sound art work SIGNAL RUINS for bowed and prepared piano, bass drums, noise generators and computer sound, is a musical performance piece informed by installation art, sculpture and ritual. In this piece, the instruments become expressive ritual objects existing on the threshold of sculptural sound. New modes of signal generation arise from conceiving these instruments as transformative filters, sound objects reinterpreted in performance. The performers navigate these instruments as if exploring an ancient wreckage, ruins that offer the hope of discovery. Signal Ruins deals with notions of time and aging. The instrumental generation of new forms from their own decay transforms temporal perspectives. An exterior time perspective dominates the first part of the work, while the second part explores interiors. This transformation is a fundamental characteristic of ritual, in which the perception of structured external actions are internalized into the spirit. THAT WHICH IS BODILESS IS REFLECTED IN BODIES is a surround-sound composition for computer-generated music exploring virtual and real bodies and spaces through physical modeling synthesis and spatio-operational spectral synthesis (SOS). The title comes from the Oneirocritica (circa 200 AD) of Artemidorus, a compendium of dream interpretations. Artemidorus describes dreams as iconic spiritual representations. He puts forth the principle That which is bodiless is reflected in bodies, an idea addressing the signification of bodies through dreams, spirits and icons. This audio performance piece employs transformations between sound processes and spatialization algorithms. The listener is placed inside a physical model Tibetan prayer bowl with each speaker representing one resonant node of a circumscribing the rim of the bowl. In this way the listener is engulfed in a giant bowl that continually changes shapes and sizes. SOS synthesis techniques employ geometrical spatial sound structures exploring the psycho-perceptual threshold between perceived unity and multiplicity. The piece was composed for Thomas Jefferson's Rotunda Dome Room at the University of Virginia. At the premiere performance, speakers were placed around the upper level Rotunda balcony turning Jefferson's architecture into a giant singing bowl. PRISMIC GENERATIONS employs a spectral-rhythmic system of sound and light. The prismic effects of light on ice inspired a musical system linking rhythmic and spectral mutation. Each partial of a justly tuned overtone series follows its own temporal identity which is linked to its pitch evolution. We hear timbral entities expressed as both pitches and rhythms, and as timbre changes, polyrhythm also changes. The spectral composition goes awry as the overtone series and corresponding rhythmic system are compressed and expanded. Fluid and mechanical time interact with sample-based imagery and computer-generated sound.