SSBD v.02 - The Regeneration of Abstract Soundscapes

Thor Magnusson
Creative Systems Lab, Dept of Informatics, University of Sussex

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     Last modified: August 22, 2006
     Presentation date: 11/24/2006 6:00 PM in McR various rooms
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Abstract
Same Same But Different (SSBD) is an ongoing generative music project by Thor Magnusson and Runar Magnusson. (see www.r4nd.org) SSBD v.02 concentrates on field recordings from their native Iceland. It is a computer program written in SuperCollider which serves as a very good environment for generative music. The software has an interface which invites the listener to listen to a new composition each time (generating a new abstract soundscape), or re-listen to an already played composition.
This paper describes the technical, aesthetic and philosophical ideas behind a work that is at the same time a generative program and a soundscape or phonographic composition. After describing the software in the necessary detail, we explain the process of recording the sounds, the selection of the sounds, and the aesthetic decisions regarding how much the sounds are processed or changed in the performance of each piece.