for ensemble with electronics

Commissioned by ISA Sommerakademie 2022

composed for ensemble Fractales

line-up: flute, clarinet, piano/keyboard, violin, violoncello
duration: 14 Minutes
date of premiere: 27.08.2022, ISA Sommerakademie, Reichenau/Rax

ensemble Fractales, 27.8.2022, Schloss Reichenau/Rax

This piece is based on the same concept idea of 60 Auditory Scenes for Orchestra, a machine listening system analyzing in real time audio-input from ensemble and various concrete sounds.

Natural auditory environments involve many different concurrent sounds. They all sum together to one mixed signal that enters the ear. How does a human brain extract information from this permanent overwhelming chaos of surrounding sound waves? This problem is commonly known as The Cocktail Party Phenomenon.

The challenge of an auditory system in this situation is to find out which parts of the sound should be grouped together and treated as parts of the same source or object. Grouping them incorrectly can cause the listener to hear non-existent sounds built from the wrong combinations of the original components.

The cocktail party problem is a significant challenge for computational audition and machine listening systems. The remarkable ability of a human brain to direct attention to the sound of interest while ignoring the others, as well as switching attention between the sources in a multilayered sound environment is still, to this day, unmatched by machines.