Page 14 February 28, 1986 The Other Press Sounds Sensational “‘Come right inn, walk this way sit right down. How do you do? Fine? That’s good. Been here before? No? Hmmmmmm. Interesting. You know, | think you'll like this. Yes, you'll like this very much. It’s different. Very different, if you’ve never had the pleasure, that is. Just sit back. There. Close your eyes. no, dori’t- worry. This is not the outside. It’s safe here. Trust me....’’ For Harold Conservative, Sunday February 16 would be more than his first evening at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre. It would become a journey into mind, a flight into a new reality; the reality of the New Music Society Zone. (dramatic pause...) Harold Conservative is about to experience an evening of computer music with host and guest John, Chowning. The lights go down and an atmos- phere of soft, serene blue lights cascades onto the audience and illum- inates the theatre. John, sitting at The controls of the 4-track, flicks on the CD. A few seconds of silence pass, just enough time to erase your mind and plug your brain into the patchboard. AHHHHHH sounds. The first piece is in fact love from the asylum, drawn from a poem by Dylan Thomas and composed by Michael McNabb. It Features orches- aed ‘ The tentatively named “Inter-Disciplinary Expression Forum” is a group of students interested in trying their hand at progressive art forms such as music and film/video, theatre and visuals, or any of the performing arts. One of the goals of the forum is to give students the opportunity to use current technology (for creative expression) which might otherwise be unobtainable due to cost. To get involyed, come to the first meeting which will be held at the following time and place: 12:00 Room 3343 Thursday March 6th tras of familiar synthesized instrumen- tal and vocal sounds (except for laughter and calliope music) engaged in a fluid shift with new sounds drawn from the composers imagination. It received an award at the 1982 Con- j cours de Music Electracoustique in France. A few more seconds of silence (oh, } god stop reducing and analysing it, | you'll spoil everything like Descarte did!) and John introduces the next piece, Turenas (1972) a computer generated quadraphonic tape which he composed. Turanus,an anagram for nature, expresses on the one hand an illusion of nature with moving sounds giving definition to a space which is not there, and on the other it connects sound colours in a continuum which could not occur in the natural acoustic world. (Harold would never be the same). These effects are technically achieved using the MUS 10 program of David Poole and composed using Leland Smith’s SCORE program on a Digital Equipment Corp. PDP-10. But it was Chowning’s developements in- volving the synthesis of moving sound The cello is a manageable, human instrument. It’s hard to relate to something as big and mechanical as a piano, even harder with something as small and silly as a violin; stick- like clarinets and flutes become mere appendages. But the cello, with its sensual curves, human scale, and rich voice, is an instrument superbly suited for emotional involvement. A cello player can truly interact with their instru- ment. On February Queen Eliz- sources in a 360 degree sound-space, which takes into account the effects of Doppler shift and controlled fre- quency modulation, which made it all possible. Harold? Harold, are you still with us? Different, don’t you think? Track 3, Solar Eclipse(1984-85), composed by Barry Truax, is based on an ‘‘Epicycle spatial trajectory (and related images) where a_ spinning sound image revolving 4 times per second travelling around an elliptical orbit similar to planetary motion’’. However, because of the proportions of the cycles, ‘‘all are present at the center of the orbit; only the highest and lowest in pitch are present at the beginning and the end. The image is that of fire whose energy is simul- taneously being dissipated yet, like the sun, appears to remain constant.’’ Harold never left his seat at inter- mission, and after the second hour, was seen burning his Wham records. He is now waiting for the Third Coming....of John Chowning. by PAUL PILON " A Bit Thunky abeth Playhouse played host to two fine Hungarian musicians, Miklos Perenyio on cello and Ferenc Rados on piano. Although he has alreeady won numerous prizes in Europe, this is Perenyi’s debut season in North America. ° His performance was generally very strong, especially on Bartok’s Rhap- sody. He gave it a delightful, bouncy paisonage feeling, which was accent- ed by his Gene Wilder smile. Even Rados, his accompanist, looked far too much like a deacon, or possibly an undertaker in the first pieces, loosen- ed up and appeared to be having a good time. The only complaint one might have was with Parenyi’s interpretation of Bach’s No. 4 Cello Suite. It’s rarely played because of several .‘‘nasty stretches’’, as a cellist friend de- scribed them. While he played them well, the piece came off a bit thunky.