Sculpting the Sound Atom: Paper and media
Find my conference paper here!
https://nime2025.org/proceedings/64.html
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Github repository of my final synthesiser, 'Particle Sculptor' (currently released as a Max project; standalone build coming in the near future)
https://github.com/nt-carter/Particle-Sculptor​
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Below are videos and audio content from my master's project, as described in my paper.
Synthesiser Videos
a series of video demonstrations of several of my synthesisers working in action. The first video presents 'Particle Grid' and 'Particle Compositor' – two synthesiser designs formed during the mid-development stages of my master's research project. The second video is a full walkthrough/sound demo of my final project syntheiser, 'Particle Sculptor'.
Matter and Void (2024)
​​​​​​​​Abstract
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​​The ancient Greco-Roman philosophy, Epicureanism, conceived a profound materialist model of reality. Epicurus of Samos (Greece, 341–270 BC), the philosophy's founder, taught that all of existence is constructed from two elemental properties: 'atoms' – indivisible, infinite in number, eternal, and constantly moving – and endless 'void', the space through which the atoms move and interact. All objects, processes, lifeforms, events, experiences – every entity that exists and decays in the universe: these are emergent consequences that arise from the cumulative interactions between innumerable flowing atoms.
‘Matter and Void,’ inspired by poetic passages from the preeminent Epicurean text ‘De Rerum Natura (The Nature of Things),’ written by Roman poet Lucretius (c. 99-55 BC), is the composer's first attempt at a musical interpretation of this Epicurean model of reality. This piece forms the first major composition output of his interdisciplinary master's research thesis investigating creative interpretations between granular synthesis music technology and Epicureanism through soundscape composition. Using sonic metaphors of the atom (sound grain) and void (spectrum, space, and time), the work constructs a dynamic narrative within an earthly environment, mixing synthesised and recorded sound sources primarily through granular sound processing.
The work commences with a brief granular swell of natural sound suddenly interrupted by a ‘magnifying’ passage – a metaphorical zoom-in from the environmental down to the atomic through dramatic granular animations. The main composition structure promptly follows. It begins from the atomic-scale, dominated by sine waves and imagined molecule grain motifs; it weaves through the meso-scale, portraying the complex inner workings of bodies and substances at the cellular/organic level; and ascends to a climax on the human/macro-scale, revealing a melodious tapestry of environmental sound built from acoustic instrumentation, foley, and field recordings.
All the sound sources of this work have been initially generated, or at some point shaped, by the composer's in-development suite of granular synthesis tools in Max/MSP. As such, this composition also bridges his granular synthesis developments and philosophical research into a cohesive artistic vision: exploring the beauty and evolving nature of our world through the profound visions of Epicureanism.
Epicurean-inspired Granular Synthesis
​The following video demonstrates two of my custom-built granular synthesisers that I have created as part of my practice-based master's research project -- exploring and interpreting Epicurean atomism through music technology and composition. All of the sounds and interactions in the video were produced in real-time by each synthesiser, using a mixture of sound files (recordings and synthesised waveforms) as the source audio for grain generation. The video also highlights several digital signal processing and user interface features. These showcase each synthesiser's ability to produce compelling granular gestures, in turn providing an aesthetically suitable toolkit to portray Epicurean depictions of atomism -- most notably in the poem The Nature of Things, by Lucretius.
Matter and Void (see below) was composed using my first four granular synth prototypes: Particle Delay, Particle Aposynthesis, Particle Scanner, and (shown in the video) Particle Compositor. Particle Grid, also shown in the video, is one of three implementations I have developed since composing Matter and Void.
Matter and Void (2024)
Abstract
​​The ancient Greco-Roman philosophy, Epicureanism, conceived a profound materialist model of reality. Epicurus of Samos (Greece, 341–270 BC), the philosophy's founder, taught that all of existence is constructed from two elemental properties: 'atoms' – indivisible, infinite in number, eternal, and constantly moving – and endless 'void', the space through which the atoms move and interact. All objects, processes, lifeforms, events, experiences – every entity that exists and decays in the universe: these are emergent consequences that arise from the cumulative interactions between innumerable flowing atoms.
‘Matter and Void,’ inspired by poetic passages from the preeminent Epicurean text ‘De Rerum Natura (The Nature of Things),’ written by Roman poet Lucretius (c. 99-55 BC), is the composer's first attempt at a musical interpretation of this Epicurean model of reality. This piece forms the first major output of his on-going interdisciplinary research thesis project investigating links between granular synthesis music technology and Epicureanism through soundscape composition. Using sonic metaphors of the atom (sound grain) and void (spectrum, space, and time), the work constructs a dynamic narrative within an earthly environment, mixing synthesised and recorded sound sources primarily through granular sound processing.
The work commences with a brief granular swell of natural sound suddenly interrupted by a ‘magnifying’ passage – a metaphorical zoom-in from the environmental down to the atomic through dramatic granular animations. The main composition structure promptly follows. It begins from the atomic-scale, dominated by sine waves and molecular grain motifs; it weaves through the meso-scale, portraying the complex inner workings of bodies and substances at the cellular/organic level; and ascends to a climax on the human/macro-scale, revealing a melodious tapestry of environmental sound built from acoustic instrumentation, foley, and field recordings.
All the sound sources of this work have been initially generated, or at some point shaped, by the composer's in-development suite of granular synthesis tools in Max/MSP. As such, this composition also acts as a proof of concept for the rest of his project's oeuvre, bridging his granular synthesis developments and philosophical research into a cohesive artistic vision: exploring the beauty and evolving nature of our world through the profound visions of Epicureanism.