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The Strong Eye — 30th Anniversary Edition

by Robert Scott Thompson

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Wreckingyard 10:47
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about

The Strong Eye refers to the human imaginative capacity in general and the inner imaging so central to artistic creation. I tend to consider my activities in computer music to be a kind of sonic biology or musical alchemy. Creative activity must struggle against potential inertia and limitation arising from the synthesis of styles and appropriation of materials which are aspects of the current condition — the blessing/curse of technology. My aim is to create evocative, idiosyncratic music by designing novel timbres and textures. Working directly with sound is of utmost importance to me, and the computer music workstation software synthesis greatly facilitates my aims.

The composition of The Strong Eye is the culmination of nearly four years of research in the computer generation and processing of sound. Preliminary sound synthesis for this composition began in 1988 at the Computer Audio Research Laboratory (CARL), Center for Music Experiment(CME), University of California San Diego (UCSD). The music was composed and recorded at the Danish Institute of Electroacoustic Music (DIEM), Musikhuset, Aarhus, Denmark, in 1991, under the auspices of a Fulbright Fellowship.

At the heart of the work are the results of my preoccupation with the development of timbre and musical structure using a wide variety of computer music strategies and applications. Among these techniques are algorithmic editing of musical sound continua into variegated forms, the transformation of sound through a wide variety of digital signal processing applications, and the direct synthesis of timbre using additive synthesis, frequency modulation, and associated techniques. Of particular importance to the musical design are a number of compositional algorithms created to control the time-space distribution of sonic events.

The Strong Eye was recorded fully within the digital domain on hard disk, and mixed in stereo via computer automation directly to the digital master. This work would not have been possible without the generosity of the composer Wayne Siegel, DIEM's Director, and his staff. The kind assistance and continual innovation of Claus Clement Pedersen, DIEM Chief Recording Engineer, engendered a relaxed and creative working environment. The successful completion of this complex project is also due to expert engineering assistance provided by Aslak Mildh. The realization of this work, and the success of my research efforts at DIEM, is also due to the support of the Danish Fulbright Commission, Mette Skaekebek, Executive Director.

— RST

This work is dedicated to all of my Danish friends. Special thanks to the following individuals: Wayne, Elizabeth, and Gabriel Siegel; Steffen Brandorff and Ulla Kellermann; Aslak Mildh; Jon Jonnsson; Kare; Karsten Schneidermann; Claus Clement Pedersen; Tina Jonnsson; all my friends at Ny Munkegade 66; and all my friends at Killyglen. Thank you for the inspiration and for helping to make my research at DIEM possible: Joji Yuasa, Roger Reynolds, F. Richard Moore, John Lauer, and all of my colleagues at the Center for Music Experiment. Special thanks to Mette Skaekebek, Barbara Lehman,and the Danish Fulbright Commission. Thank you, especially to Douglas G. Thompson, Sr., for helping to make this research possible.

Push far enough towards the Void,
Hold fast enough to Quietness,
And of the ten thousand things none but can be worked on by you.
I have beheld them, whither they go back.
See, all things, howsoever they flourish,
Return to the root from which they grew.
This return to the root is called Quietness;
Quietness is called submission to Fate;
What has submitted to Fate becomes part of the always—so;
To know the always—so is to be Illumined;
Not to know it means to go blindly to disaster.

— Lao Tzu

credits

released November 20, 2022

Composed, recorded and mixed in the digital domain by Robert Scott Thompson — 1991

John Fonville: Flute samples
Sebastian Winston: Bass Flute samples
Victoria Bearden: Voice samples
Robert Scott Thompson: Cello samples, compositional algorithms, sound synthesis and digital signal processing

Technical Assistance: Aslak Mildh and Claus Clement Pedersen

Recorded at the Danish Institute of Electroacoustic Music (DIEM), Wayne Siegel ·_ Director, Aarhus Denmark; using the Audioframe DMR by WaveFrame Corp. U.S.A. Computer music synthesis and digital signal processing performed using cmusic and related software by F. Richard Moore, et al, on a NeXT Cube 040 microcomputer, and on the Computer Audio Research Laboratory VP:/.. 11 /780. Additional materials were generated using MP:/.. by Opcode Systems and EMU Systems digital audio samplers.

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Robert Scott Thompson Atlanta, Georgia

The term musical alchemist best describes modern music composer Robert Scott Thompson. Combining his mastery of the electroacoustic, contemporary instrumental, and avant-garde genres into a swirling cohesive whole, he is an important pioneer on music's new frontier.

Read full bio and listen to sounds at:

www.aucourantrecords.com
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