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For Virtual Violin and Interactive Video (1998)
The SuperPolm, Virtual Violin was built in 1996 . It was originally
intended for use in a piece I composed for IRCAM in 1995 -
1996, entitled "VirtualAERI". The first performance
of this piece was given in 1997 at IRCAM's Espace de Projection,
in Paris, France. The second version "VirtualAERI II"
was written in 1998.
It consisted of four sections, each of which dealt with a
different kind of space, large, medium and small. The form
is intentionally simplified, like the succession of "block
type" sections. The sound is generated in order to convey
the senses of mechanical and dense texture in a succession
of block form, however, is obvious and somehow organic at
the same time, in order to correlate a performance with Virtual
Violin in real time.
The Interactive Video part is intended not to express any
particular meaning. It may exist in parallel with sound. This
can bring another domain of interactive perception between
the visual and the auditory experiences.
The SuperPolm was designed as an interface for small-scale
gestures, and one particular section of the composition focused
specifically on the possibilities opened up by the controller.
The SuperPolm cannot produce sounds by itself. This merely
sends signals that produce sounds by means of a computer or
a sound module. This may be regarded as an interface between
the performer and the computer insofar as it translates the
energy derived from body movements into electrical signals.
At the same time however, it allows the performer to express
complex musical ideas. With the help of a controller, a tiny
gesture can trigger any number of complex musical passages
at one and the same time in a real time context, whereas a
traditional instrument can produce only a limited range of
sounds.
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