Artists
Album Info
Release Date: 2024-06-18Label: Evel
This album comprises a set of different soundtracks for an animated film, where the audio is based on analysis of the video. The video was created with the Fractal Flame algorithm, developed by Scott Draves and Erick Reckase [1], using Apophysis fractal flame editor [2].These software tools were originally used to make short looping videos in the Electric Sheep screensaver [3] which selects, cross-breeds and evolves them using genetic algorithms. I used these tools to make a longer video of 10 minutes which, at 16fps, made a total of 9,600 frames. Using programs written in Mathematica, I analysed the video, calcuating the number of unique colours, number of black pixels, overall lightness, and file size for each individual frame.
This data was then transformed into MIDI files that were edited and arranged in Reaper and played with a variety of software synths (Synth1, Razor, XILS3, FM8, Pendulate, TS-808 and Sean Pandy Drums). The results are soundtracks that change as the images change. But not all the changes are visible or audible. The whole process is an experiment in what film theorist Michel Chion called synchresis - “the spontaneous and irresistible weld produced between a particular auditory phenomenon and visual phenomenon when they occur at the same time” [4]. The film has been presented at 4 different events, each with a different version of soundtrack. In addition to the 4 existing versions, the album also includes a new previously unreleased version.
[1] Draves, S. & reckase, E. (2003) The Fractal Flame Algorithm. flam3.com/flame_draves.pdf
[2] Original Apophysis: flam3.com New version: sourceforge.net/projects/apophysis-av/
[3] electricsheep.org
[4] Chion, M. (1994) Audio-Vision: Sound on Screen. New York: Columbia University Press.