Output details

Northern Loop: Northern Loop

'Northern Loop' (2013) is a collaborative composition of 80 minutes duration total. The extended play CD is recorded on Sargasso, London (SDC 28072). Composition roles were distributed 50/50 between Dr Field and Dr Paul Fretwell (University of Kent). Dr Field was also responsible for the recording and mastering of the CD.

Loop based structures are commonplace in music created with technology. Our collaborative aim was to challenge the loop by using it as the minimum structural unit, and design new interactions between the materials that result from constant repetition. Instead of relying on techniques derived from 1960s minimal musics, such as phasing and displaced overlapping, we set out to investigate alternative means for achieving textural diversity and development. In each movement of Northern Loop, the loop is treated as a time block, where the boundaries of the block provoke additional spectral processing of the contents. Large parameter changes are avoided and small scale changes are deployed across long time scales. This processing was carried out entirely aurally, and algorithmic or automated procedures for long-term development are not employed here. In selecting and developing sounds for this piece, we placed a focus on intricate internal workings and in finding textures that would provide a sense of detail remaining to be uncovered on subsequent listenings.