Music for Chain Tape Collective projects (2000-2007)
category: computer music / experimental music
- CT-Film cover, designed by Gydja
The CT Collective was originally started by Michael Klobuchar as a chain tape group; that is, as a group whose members recorded music by mailing a master tape throughout the United States and Europe. The finished tape was then cleaned up and distributed to the members as a CD. No one got paid for any of this, and the organization, mastering, and mailing of the collaborative projects was done by members who volunteered their time and resources.
Since then, CT members started to do more than one project at a time, and they also decided to streamline the recording process by having people simply mail their contributions to the person mastering the project. After this stage, copies go out to other people who have volunteered to duplicate CDs and distribute them to the contributors and to other interested parties.
Most CT projects are based on one topic or general idea - e.g. there are projects for film music, music with found objects, paper music, live music, a capella music, etc.
I joined CT in the year 2000, relaunched the CT website, contributed tracks to eight projects, and coordinated one project (CT-Film). All of my CT submissions are basically computer music, often based on granular synthesis.
Orllyndie - CT project: Ambitative 2 (5:30 min, 6.31 MB)
Orllyndie is the name of a strange but idyllic forest planet from an SF novel. The piece was constructed using samples of: a balaphone, a tropical birdcall, another birdcall (that I had tried to record from out of a hotel bathroom window while the water system was hissing loudly), and a ney flute. Granular synthesis was applied to some of the sounds, others were simply played back using a sampling keyboard.
Balloon - CT project: Object/Videogame (6:17 min, 5.77 MB)
All sounds were generated using a small inflatable toy balloon. The sounds were then modified using Granulab and Audiomulch .
Biesfeld - CT project: Location Vol. 1 (5:52 min, 5.39 MB)
Biesfeld is a village in a rural area (Bergisches Land) just east of Cologne, Germany. Hills, small towns, small forests, meadows, small rivers, agriculture, horses, cows. You hear: songbirds - a vibrating fence wire - steps in the snow - cracking ice on puddles - airplane - water in a creek - hen - a horse - wind in large plastic sheets - an owl - chainsaws on a construction site - kids playing - crickets - a car - thunder. Tools used: DAT recorder - Cubase - Granulab - Audiomulch - Wavewarp.
Une Dance Dans Le Cuisine Du Roi De Beteigeuze -
CT project: Where We're At (2:43 min, 2.50 MB)
The track was composed of these sounds (can you spot them?):
a vocal sample from a renaissance music cd - the cracking of an aluminium yoghurt package lid - a large wooden paper pulp stamper driven by a water wheel - a metal leg of a table - the squeaking and honking of mushrooms being cut with a knife.
Everything was put together using Sonic Foundry's Acid software.
Das Geräusch - CT project: Film (3:07 min, 2.93 MB)
Soundtrack for an imaginary German trailer of 'Earth vs. the flying saucers'.
Granulated rattan sofa, half speed mellotron, various sounds, speech samples.
Central Dream Park - CT project: Film (0:47 min, 0.75 MB)
Music for the closing scene of an imaginary impressionist feature about Central Park.
All sounds come from the M-Tron mellotron sample library.
Moon 1969 - CT project: Great Speeches (3:43 min, 3.50 MB)
John F. Kennedy, 1961: 'I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth'
Rascheln Knallen Quietschen - CT project: Paper Music (3:49 min, 5.37 MB)
all sounds generated with nothing but paper and treated with granular synthesis. I created a number of single tracks using specific paper sounds and suitable specific granular synth treatments and mixed them in Adobe Audition.
Rascheln=rustling Knallen=disploding Quietschen=squeaking
Lark Machine - CT project: Birds and Men (4:17 min, 4.25 MB)
This consists of electronically treated recordings of songs of a lark (alauda arvensis,there are many images of it on the web), plus string chords which I stole from Morton Feldman, and slowed down drastically
