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Quantaform Series I-XX : Large-scale cycle of research based compositions for flute and live electronics

'Quantaform' series is a set of 32 short works with a total duration of 60 minutes (Sargasso Records, London SCD 28071). 'Quantaform' series is performed by Jos Zwannenberg, with interludes for solo electronics.

This is a single author set of compositions specifically designed to explore interactions between the performance acoustic and the notated materials. Instead of treating the performance acoustic response as an afterthought, 'Quantaform' series integrates a precise consideration of the acoustic resonances of the performance venue into the design of the works themselves. To aid and fully test this link, the performance acoustics on this release are entirely electronic, and the performer is recorded within the simulated acoustic as part of the recorded take. This technique uses an analysis of the electronically imprinted performance acoustic to inform the line and trajectory of the flute part. This is not however an algorithmic composition, and there is no direct mapping of pitch to acoustic profile. There is also no selection of harmony or pitch based on this data, as would be encountered in spectral composition. Instead, this engineering information is used to inform a traditional composition process. The structures forming these pieces are as condensed and purposeful as they could be made, and the basic materials were ‘uncovered’ through preliminary sessions with the performer. There is no repetition of ideas, and although the structure is goal-directed to a degree, timbre and timbral modification are foregrounded. The 11 short movements for technology alone are automatically generated from the flute material in previous movements, with no user input. They function as sounding pauses - they have no designed sense of goal orientation, and are formed through the application of a simple spectral re-distribution technique ("block-switch") first adopted by Oyvind Hammer in his Ceres programme for SGI workstations in the late 1990s.