OWt's World

This is a piece commissioned by TimeArt Studio and its ensemble.

TimeArt Studio received a letter from an alien, called OWt, from other dimensional world. OWt wants to cooperate with musicians on earth to compose a musical work. Although OWt cannot hear music generated by human-beings, but he/she can sense music in some ways. OWt asked musicians to perform music based on four different types of emotions, and have a good friend, the computer, to record and translate the music to him/her, and then asked Zoe to compose the music, which will present his/her living environment. Maybe, in a way, his/her living environment is formed by human’s inner feelings?

Creative Process

At the beginning of the creative process, the performers were given four emotional prompts:

• Happy, content
• Vivid, exciting
• Negative feelings (sad, angry, etc.)
• Calm and tranquil

In response to each prompt, the performers created a corresponding musical passage. They were free either to improvise or to perform material from an existing repertoire, with no restriction on duration. The performances were recorded using a mobile phone or a simple recording device and sent back to Zoe.

To simulate the idea that extraterrestrial beings are unable to correctly perceive or understand human music, these recordings were fed directly into an AI-based audio recognition system. The computer analyzed the audio and converted it into MIDI data, which was then rendered back into audio using the basic built-in sampled instruments in Logic Pro: flute, clarinet, marimba, and guzheng.

Because the computer's perception of pitch and musical expression differs significantly from that of a human musician, the resulting interpretation can be highly distorted. The computer is extremely sensitive to subtle changes in the audio signal. For example, a single sustained note may be interpreted as a series of short notes fluctuating above and below the original pitch. Likewise, extended instrumental techniques or other distinctive performance gestures may be interpreted as entirely different pitches or sounds, depending on the harmonic content of the original sound. As a result, the music produced through this AI interpretation undergoes a considerable degree of transformation.

Zoe then listened to these "translated" versions of the performers' music. Rather than attempting to reconstruct the original musical intentions, she responded to what emerged through the act of listening, identifying the scenes and inner images evoked by the translated sounds. These impressions became the basis for four distinct scenes, through which the initial drafts of the musical and electronic components were developed.

Once the first draft was completed, approximately one minute of music was selected from each of the four scenes, without revealing the titles or identities of the scenes. These excerpts were sent back to the performers, who were asked to respond to each excerpt by performing a corresponding musical passage. The new performances were recorded and returned to Zoe.

Zoe then once again processed these recordings through the AI audio-recognition and re-rendering system, transforming them into new musical passages. By listening to these second-generation "translations," she used the resulting sounds as a guide for the final adjustments of the musical timbre and overall sonic character.

The Four Scenes

I. The Golden Garden. It feels as though one is standing in a garden surrounded by golden sunlight, yet beneath the warmth there is a sense of movement, like the ebb and flow of the sea. Perhaps the waves are made of particles of golden light, flowing and undulating through space. The atmosphere is warm, innocent, and gentle.

Musically, the scene incorporates the rhythmic qualities of Kunqu opera, creating an elegant and delicate character.

II. The Living Countryside. It is as though one is looking at a rural landscape from a Japanese ukiyo-e print: distant mountains, rice fields, and a slightly humid atmosphere filled with the vitality and energy of primitive insects and other living creatures.

The scene evokes an organic, instinctive sense of life emerging and moving through the landscape.

III. The Pool of Negative Energy. A pool formed from negative energies that humanity has been unable to digest or release. Resentment, fear, anger, and other inseparable emotions accumulate within it, generating an intense and almost fiery kinetic force.

The more negative energy human beings produce, the larger this region of negative energy becomes in the world of OWt. Perhaps the inhabitants of OWt are also wondering how such enormous accumulations might eventually be broken down and transformed.

Musically, this section draws upon the jǐnlā-mànchàng technique associated with Peking opera and beiguan music, in which tightly articulated instrumental gestures contrast with sustained vocal expression, creating a strong sense of theatrical tension and dramatic energy.

IV. The Snowfield. A landscape resembling a snow scene in ukiyo-e: quiet, restrained, and composed.

It feels as though all vitality and energy are gradually moving toward another temperature, condensing and crystallizing into snow and frost. The world becomes still, as if its former energy has been transformed into a state of suspended calm.