Latin American Electroacoustic Music Collection

Manuel Rocha Iturbide, SL-9, 1994
(Mexico)



Recording time: 10 min 47 s.
Instruments: Electroacoustic composition for digital tape

Other resources available:
- About Manuel Rocha Iturbide
- Compositions by Manuel Rocha Iturbide

About this composition:

Sl-9 is named after the comet that hit Jupiter in 1994. This piece was made with granular synthesis techniques in Simon Fraser electroacoustic studio, with Barry Truax's granular synthesis system (The DSP DMX-1000 controlled by a PDP Micro 11). The samples used for the time granulation were popping sounds of fire, drops of water, and the ocean. The idea was to make a programmatic piece where a comet hits a planet, and brings to it water (the comets are made out of water), an element which will probably bring life to it. The sounds of fire (which evoke the explosion), and the sounds of water drops were very short (between 100 and 300 milliseconds), they were stretched with time granulation in order to create processes where we discover the micro internal structure of these sounds. The micro processes of sound are used as a metaphor about the chemical processes triggered by the explosion of a comet with a planet that will develop organic life.

This piece was mixed down at SFU studio, and it was originally meant to work as a tape piece alone, but later on, the possibility to create a video made out of fire and water images was brought. These images could be granulated in a visual way and we would have then an interesting counterpoint between the sound and the visuals. If my piece is accepted to be played in one of the concert halls, I would then try to produce this video (I have Facilities at the Multimedia Center of Mexico city). Otherwise, the piece can be played any way with out the video part.

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