Be Born
About the work
Be Born depicts in music the process through which a minute movement beginning in a single cell gradually takes shape and becomes a living being. Sounds that expand and become more defined from small, as-yet-unformed movements express the formation and transformation of form.
Musical structure
Beginning with small, indistinct sounds, the music accumulates repetition and subtle changes, layering different timbres into an organic structure. Live piano, handbells and cello join the ambient sound. The cello’s sustained resonance and the delicate timbre of handbells express the movement and growth of life.
Technology & performance
Max/MSP controls electronic sound in real time, while GyrOSC connects the performers’ movements to sonic changes. Quadraphonic mixing allows sounds to travel and spread throughout the venue, creating a flow in which they meet and disperse. The accumulation of movements and the sound filling the space become a process of morphogenesis.
Music & technology
Full submitted program note · English translation
[MorphoGenesis]
TEAM
An Taerin & Jeong Jueun (안태린&정주은)
Cello: Kim Seungyeon (김승연)
Final Program Note
<Be Born>
Where does life begin?
BE BORN depicts in music the process through which a minute movement beginning in a single cell gradually takes shape and ultimately becomes a living being.
Just as the performance theme, MorphoGenesis, refers to the formation and transformation of form, this work expresses the birth of life through sound that begins with the tiny movements of a life that has not yet taken shape, then gradually expands and becomes more defined.
MUSIC
The work begins with small, indistinct sounds that evoke a cell. As repetitions and subtle changes accumulate, the sounds gradually gain density, and different timbres and movements overlap to create an organic structure.
Live piano, handbells and cello are added to music centered on ambient sound, allowing electronic sound and live performance to blend naturally. The cello’s sustained resonance and the delicate timbre of handbells express the movement and growth of life that is not yet fully formed. The music gradually changes from a static space into a living, moving form.
TECHNOLOGY & PERFORMANCE
In Be Born, the process through which sound moves and changes within a space is itself used as an element of performance.
Max/MSP provides real-time control of electronic sound, and GyrOSC captures the performers’ movements as data and connects them to sonic changes. This enables the performers’ bodily movements to go beyond gesture and produce actual changes in sound.
Quadraphonic mixing also extends sound throughout the venue instead of playing it from a single direction. Sounds move freely through the space and spread out, creating an organic flow as they meet and disperse.
Ultimately, birth in Be Born does not refer only to the moment when a living being comes into existence. Every stage in which small movements accumulate, form takes shape and sound fills the space contributes to a process of morphogenesis.
The moment form is born from the formless,
the moment sound meets movement and becomes life,
Be Born.
Performance video
A video of this performance will be available after the event.