Published
27-4-2026
Type of Work
Creative Work - Inter-arts, multimedia
Abstract
This work translates the compositional logics of serialism into the domain of sound synthesis, proposing “parametric serialism” as a method for organising modulation rather than pitch. Instead of treating modulation as a mere shaping tool applied by common sources such as LFOs, envelopes or random generators, the piece treats the serial ordering, permutation and transformation of parameters themselves as the primary site of composition. The resulting work presents modulation as an unstable ground - a terrain in which rule-based determinacy and emergent behaviour continually fold into one another.
The piece is implemented in Pure Data, where various synthesis parameters are subjected to serial operations such as ordering, inversion and retrograde, then mapped to multiple modulation targets across granular, FM and delay-based processes via Bluetooth to an iPad. The iPad music app host AUM, receives the serialised control data via MIDI and routes the control change information to the various synthesis parameters which are hosted within AUM. The multi-gesture interactivity of mobile music apps allows for further control in live performance. This approach rejects the predictable periodicity of conventional LFOs and the lack of coherence of purely stochastic modulation. Instead, it generates structured patterns that remain open to unforeseen textural and sonic outcomes. Sonic events arise from the systematic traversal of parameter “rows”, producing evolving timbres that never settle into stable cycles yet retain a traceable internal logic.
Situated within the ARE 2026 theme of “Unstable Grounds: Artistic Research Lines of Flight”, the work explores how algorithmic control systems can harbour behaviours that exceed their own design. Articulating a mode of “structured unpredictability”, parametric serialism is proposed as a departure from both integral serialism’s totalising control and Cagean indeterminacy’s abdication of authorship. The presented piece operates as both a technical investigation and an aesthetic proposition. It experiments with how rule-based modulation can destabilise common rigid synthesis architectures, opening speculative zones where sonic form is continuously reimagined.
Citation
Brown, A., Chechelashvili, D. (2026, April). Unstable Traces [Multimedia]. ARE 2026: Unstable Grounds: Artistic Research Lines of Flight [Exhibition]. FilmEU WIRE, Lusófona University / Beato Innovation District, Lisbon, Portugal. filmeu.eu
Link to Published Work
https://vimeo.com/1178542303