The Office of Research & Development

The Office of Research & Development is an original and purely experimental electronic music composition using the Eurorack modular synthesizer system with some signal-generated tones for atmospherics. The composition flowered from the remains of a previous work using various multi-oscillator tone sources and either mixed together for a choral envelope of tones, or "sequenced" in a way using an audio divider to create the raw control voltages to drive the individual oscillators. The sound sequences from a previous composition were treated - slowed down or given a ring-modulated treatment - to vastly alter the sonic pallet from the original. New tone sequences were added to create the surreal atmospherics. Inspiration for piecing together the organised sounds came from the way the BBC Radiophonic Workshop used a custom device called a "Crystal Palace". This device was a kind of audio signal switcher or sequencer and would fade in and out the different signal inputs that were connected to it. I applied this approach to this composition mainly. Sounds were created that drifted in and out, then multi-tracked to create sounds blending in and out at different times to simulate a melody sequence. The base reference sound was a slow-motion cascade of tones that has a very eerie and creepy colouration to it. To this, I added various sound "overlays", such as one that has a slow-motion industrial reverberation, shrill tones to create variety and strange ring-modulated mixed tones. Many of these sounds were a mix of up to six oscillator sources (mostly triangle waves) and tuned to interesting combinations. The mix of oscillators were fed into a frequency shifter to create subtle phasing or beating effects, then processed by cushioning reverberation to give the oscillator mix depth. Some sound sources used from a previous composition used oscillators controlling other oscillators. For example oscillator 2 to CV oscillator 1 mixed with oscillator 4 to CV oscillator 3. Here, very interesting tonal combinations can result, especially when the controlling oscillator is a square wave. The next sound overlay in the composition used eight different sources. The metallic noise bursts heard are actually signal-generated noise bursts then ring-modulated or flanged. We hear multi-oscillator melodic tones processed with reverb, choral sounds slowed down, sombre multi-oscillator sequences, and "happy" or inspirational choral sequences. We also hear variations of these combinations as originally multi-tracked and the individual oscillator settings adjusted. As well as the atonal oscillator combinations, there is a frequency-shifted shimmer of tones slowed down to create a science-fiction-like "Venus" atmosphere- very eerie. The last overlay used a Doepfer PLL module to create the high "noise crunches", there are various ring modulated mixed tones (using four oscillators and two ring modulators) and various audio-divided FM oscillators outputting triangle waves - frequency shifted for added phasing effect. Some of these audio-divided tones were sombre, others were created to provide "happy" or positively-orientated melody structures. Throughout the composition, there is a low bass tone produced from pure signal generation. At the conclusion of the work, there is a very creepy noise-like industrial reverberance that carries the listener away from structure, and into something deeper or surreal. This blends with the initial base reference slow-motion cascade of tones with the reference name of "Strophoid M". The visuals were constructed by pure video synthesis creation. The visuals appear in two parts - that of a circular or spheroid foreground, and the logically-derived texture-weave background. It is the interplay of these twin visual elements that make for visuals slightly reminiscent of an experiment. While creating the circular visual motifs, it was realised that some of these elements resemble a visual vocabulary for the sub-atomic realm. Down to the Planck level and the vibrating strings (the absolute fundamental elements of all matter in the Universe), some of the vibrating circular patterns remind one of such vibrating strings. This idea was carried forward with more of the circular imagery resembling sub-atomic or organic processes. These "vibrating" patterns were superimposed over electronic textile-weave patterns - logically produced by the interaction of geometric forms and tiled patterns. Both the background and foreground elements were combined using non-additive mixing or logical blending modes - addition, subtraction, exclusive OR (XOR). The final result is a curious blend of audio and visual elements implying some kind of creation process at work. The title alone seems to imply research into the fundamental creative properties of the structure of space.