A composition by Senior Lecturer in Music Dr Manuella Blackburn has been selected for performance at a concert in Chile.
Switched on (2011) for loudspeakers will feature at the Concierto Acousmatica in Melinka, in the Cultural Centre of Melinka next month.
Explaining the origins of her work, Dr Blackburn said: “This piece began by exploring the sounds of switches, dials and buttons collected from my home and place of work. A particularly interesting sound was sourced from turning on an old TV, which ignited a series of high frequency pitches and crackling static flutters before eventually powering on.
“Lower transpositions of this sound revealed a usually inaudible collection of electronic-like frequencies that feature throughout the work. Together with this, the switch sounds, being very short in duration, are clustered into intricate groupings, cascades and explosive flourishes. In addition to these aspects, I was particularly drawn to the concepts of inanimate object powering up from moments of inactivity, and surging electricity running and humming through circuitry.”
Switched on was realised in 2011 at Liverpool Hope University and completed at the EMS (Stockholm, Sweden). It premiered in June 2011, during the MANTIS “Sonic Meta-Ontology 2” Festival at The University of Manchester.