subtractive fields
Soundscape and open score [20’]
For Ekhos Trio (Kristia Michael, Claudio Jacomucci, Giueseppe Doronzo).
In subtractive fields, spectrograms of field recordings are inverted and used as filters to create an imprint on noise. This produces a noise field in which traces of the original recording are perceived through their absence. The soundscape oscillates between two states: the field recording and its negative. The work exists in multiple versions of varying lengths, each using different field recordings.
The live instruments play only during the field recording sections. Harmonic material, heard as sine tones, is drawn from spectral analysis of the field recording (see the following page for harmonics from the 'Andros' series), and may serve as a guide for improvisation. The players improvise around this material, finding a single musical object per scene that can be repeated and varied, as if they are part of the sonic landscape itself. They may follow the suggested harmonies or depart from them entirely, seeking whatever connects with both the field recording and each other.
In the inverse noise fields (the even-numbered markers in the score), the performers remain silent, listening only to the noise. Where lighting control is available, these sections may be performed in total darkness, so that light and sound alternate as the piece moves between its two materials. Live electronics may also be used, recording to a buffer or employing granular delays or spectral sampling, to carry the resonance of the performers into the inverse noise fields, gradually fading until only noise remains.
The 'Andros' sequence consists of recordings made on Andros, in an area surrounding an electricity pylon in the hills above Batsi. This sequence lasts just over fifteen minutes. Further sequences, shorter or longer, can be made using the same procedure.
