Crystallization

Crystallization is a work for solo laptop or smartphone. It is at the same time a music composition, a piece of computer software and an improvisation practice. The software performs sound synthesis and visual effects (laptop version only). The software was developed by Andreja Andric, in Java (laptop version) and in Javascript (smartphone version). Certain aspects of the composition are built into the software itself. Some other aspects are free and the musician can improvise and explore within the limitations and possibilities that the software provides. The work is typically twenty minutes to an hour-long performance of fast and intense loops of synthesized sound. The music is based on a loop which is gradually and systematically modified by admixture of tones whose frequencies are multiplies or fractions of a base tone, like harmonic series and similar tone rows based on small whole numbers and fractions. The music explores natural tone intervals, repetition and dependencies between harmony and sound color in natural (non-tempered) scales and low (1-bit) sound resolution. In the version for laptop, the performer uses a simple text interface where they can change the melodic content (essentially, insert a new tone to the current sound mixture) and various parameters of sound, which brings the project close to a simple live-coding system. In the laptop version, if a projector is used, the audience can follow the performer's actions. In the version for smartphone, the performer controls the music through a web interface using buttons and a swipe area.