Elements Of Sci-Fi

Introduction

Development of modern computers and music technologies has a strong impact on the way music is created, recorded and produced nowadays. It has also strongly influenced the way we perceive music, pushing the boundaries of acceptable forms, sounds and traditions even further than was possible 10-20 years ago.

However such enormous breakthroughs have their negative side.. First of all, the growing connection of music with technology separates the process of creation from the emotional context (which is one of the crucial factors of the every art form) and very often the artists and musicians working with technology find themselves lost in a technical debris obsessed with the details and equipment itself instead of developing new creative ideas and emotional side of their work.

Second comes the lack of performance quality and expression. Of course, there is a reason for it, namely the difficulty (and often impossibility) of performing/re-creating electronic music live and away from the studio, due to the enormous complexity involved.

Finally there is a lack of “human error” and in turn no possibilities to change/improvise, something which can make a real connection with the audience during performance. This connection is of course invaluable in live music and thus a big problem for a lot of electronic styles.

Basic Description

The project we would like to present is our response/solution to the above. From the beginning we divided the project into a number of conceptual elements, which together would create more than just the sum of their parts. These parts in turn include a number of creative and technical tasks to be solved. You will find a detailed description of all parts, goals and problems below.

Music

Electronic music on the verge of easy-listening, ambient-dub and IDM, employed diversity of modern techniques, methods (generative composition, granular re-synthesis, psychoacoustic processing) as well as traditional ones attempt to create experimental electronic music attractive to the broader widths of music followers everywhere. It is assembled from hundreds of carefully selected small blocks and pieces, which are shaped and arranged into the final tracks in front of the audience during the performance.

All the blocks and pieces are short audio loops; created, produced and recorded with the help of special free/commercial audio software by the authors themselves. That is the only pre-prepared material. The music itself has been created live on a fully improvisational basis and hasn’t existed in any form other than live-recordings from these live-concerts and the concerts themselves.

Music Highlights

Combination of the chaos and order, predefined (micro-level) and improvisational (macro-level), technical and emotional.
Capability of the emotional connection and exchange with the public (because of the improvisational nature of the performance).
Unique and authentic music during each concert (every time the combination of music is different, arranged on an intuitive basis which represent the vision and the mood of the artist on the moment of performance).
Synthesis of DJing (ideology of breaks and cuts) and the musicianship (all the pieces are self-composed and made).
Practical demonstration of some of the possibilities within modern music software, sound synthesis methods and new performance styles.

Video

Computer graphics and a great number of fragments from old Soviet sci-fi movies will be mixed together and processed with special effects. These are neither video-clips nor a basis for the music. The music and video included are both independent and connected simultaneously. They have evolved side by side, influencing and supplementing each other under the guidance of the performers.

All video fragments are twinned with audio loops/effects based on our collective vision. These connections are pre-set, however the arrangement is improvisational, as is the video and the music.

Video Highlights

The introduction of elements and clichés of the soviet sci-fi cinematograph to a broad audience.
Live video arrangement.
Direct link between music and video. Equality of both parts.

Whole

Working on this project, one of our main goals was to create a well-balanced system, the parts of which compliment one other, pushing the project to a whole new level of complexity and quality. With use of both audio and visual elements, the project as a whole can be a far more spectacular and rich experience than music or film alone, assuming that the parts work good effectively together and are well arranged individually.

Whole Highlights

Unique combination of electronic music and video produced live and simultaneously.
A relatively cost-effective, simple and effective solution for electronic music performance.
Complete real-time control over all parameters of the system.
Just pure fun to play with.

CD-ROM

All music and video created during the performance is recorded onto separate computers. Later on in the party/event; the whole performance (music and video) is integrated to a special multimedia CD-ROM about Elements Of Sci-Fi and this project, burnt on a limited number of CD-R (around 20) and made available for the visitors.

Goals

Creation of a reliable and powerful system for live performance.
To give the music and video a fresh perspective; re-fashioning the way it is normally produced.
To give an audience a unique and interesting experience and enjoying creating it!
Performing live.
Bringing modern digital art to the masses.