Elysium

Elysium is a piece that involves a live performance that is accompanied by pre-rendered ambient music. The principle of this project revolves around making a multi-channel reverse reverb/delay effect (as described here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_echo) for the performer (me!). The primary instrument used for this performance is a guitar fed through a variety of effects pedals that are send to a computer running the core effect.

The ambient sounds accompanying the performer will be generated through SuperCollider (which is still being explored by said performer). Third order ambisonics (sixteen channels) are the chosen strategy to spatialize the sound. The AmbiX plugin seems like a viable option for this purpose and the DAW chosen to be the helping hand throughout this process is Cockos Reaper. A key feature in this piece is a feedback loop from the guitar setup, inspired by Matt Wright’s feedback ensemble. The performer’s guitar is to be routed into four channels, where every channel is a feedback to the other. (At this point in time, since this feature has not been implemented, we have no idea of how this would sound). These four channels are to be scaled (through ambisonics?) to the final sixteen channel space. Triggers to control the movement of the piece are provided in the form of OSC messages though SuperCollider (currently, the implementation of this process is completely unknown).

This piece is imagined having two acts. Act I is a solo performance which bleeds into Act II performed in synchrony with a fellow performer. Due to the project's infancy, and the indecisiveness of the performers involved, it is not yet clear if Act II will be achieved, but there is hope.