Oribotics [lab] Music

Collaboration

The music for Oribotics was composed by David Young of Aphids. David worked in collaboration with Rosemary Joy (miniature instrument maker), Eugene Ughetti (Percussion), and Jethro Woodward (Sound Design). The team of 4 worked closely together to create music that is flexible enough to be used in a range of exhibition environments. The soundscape is comprised of two main parts: The performance, and the sound design.

Performance

The solo performance of Eugene Ughetti is not a simple as it first appears. Eugene reads from an electronic score projected onto a hanging screen, that is viewable by the audience. The order of sheets in the score is determined by one of two factors. When the audience sends sms messages (see the program for more details ). The city they select in their message corresponds directly to the a sheet in the score. In this way the audience creates a new path for Eugene as he navigates the composition. If no sms' have been recieved the system chooses a random sheet. Each sheet is displayed for a time which is related to the live weather data in the oribotic database.

Sound Design

The sound design is constantly in flux. As the audience alter the visual and mechanical behaviour of the oribotic environment via sms, they are also altering the sonic environment. Like the Performance, the Sound Design is divided into 55 samples, each related to a city. So as users send their sms' the oribotic environment responds by switching a section of the soundscape to match.

Composition

Behind both the Performance and Sound design is the influence of David's pictorial composition style. David's technique of composition employs a highly visual relationship the music. Rather than writing notes he composes with images.
The composition for Oribotics was divided into 55 sheets, to match the weather patterns for the 55 cities. David works closely with Eugene Ughetti to develop Eugene's interpretation of each page of the score. They develop a common language, unique to the composition, as David assigns instruments to certain visual elements.

55 Sheets of Oribotic Composition

Composition by David Young