Infinity (K-Space album)
Encyclopedia
Infinity is the third album by British
-Siberia
n experimental
music ensemble K-Space
. It was released in the United States
in August 2008 by Ad Hoc Records, an affiliate of Recommended Records
, and was a new type of CD
that is different every time it is played.
"Infinity" will not work in a standard CD player and requires a computer to play it. Each time the CD is played, supplied software remixes
source material located on the disc and produces a new 20-minute musical piece. The CD cannot be paused or fast-forwarded, and there are no tracks to select. The only controls available are "PLAY" and "STOP".
The music produced by the CD is electroacoustic improvisation
that is rooted in Tuva
n shaman ritual
music.
by Scottish
percussionist Ken Hyder
and English
multi-instrumentalist Tim Hodgkinson
. They were exploring the improvisational and musical aspects of shamanism
when they met up with Gendos Chamzyryn, a shaman
and musician from Tuva
. Hyder, Hodgkinson and Chamzyryn formed K-Space to experiment with improvised music rooted in the Tuva
n shamanic ritual
.
Their second album, Going Up (2004) was a sound collage
of K-Space performances plus field recording
s of shamanic rituals, manipulated and superimposed on one another. Infinity extended Going Ups production process and made it dynamic to produce a new mix
with each play.
started describing some of the implicit rules that K-Space
use during their live improvisations
. It occurred to him that these rules could be embedded in software that would produce interesting variations on the original process. Hodgkinson discussed his ideas with Andy Wilson (aka The Grand Erector), a software design
er and webmaster
of German krautrock
band Faust
's website, The Faust Pages. They investigated ways to select sound files within different contexts and to use them in different ways to produce a new stream of music with each play. Wilson then set about developing "metacompositional" software that compiles and sequences deconstructed fragments of sound files. These sound sources were provided by K-Space and include field recording
s, throat singing
, various percussion, string and reed instruments. The number of audio files available were restricted by the size limitations of the CD format, but when combined and permutated, they would create an apparently infinite number of different "compositions", and hence the album title Infinity.
The audio files are categorized into a number of groups, including acoustic, live, solo, environmental and loops. A single audio file can be used in many different ways by varying, for example, dynamic levels
, volume and duration of play. For a particular piece, for example, the software might select any two of seven acoustic files and play them together for x seconds, adding one of four environmental files after y seconds.
The sound source selection process the software uses is not random, but algorithm
ic based on scores
Hodgkinson wrote for the project. Each time "PLAY" is pressed, the software selects a new score which it uses to construct a new piece of music. The score consists of a set of audio file selection criteria, which vary depending on what has happened before. While there are a finite number of scores on the CD, there are many different interpretations of each score.
Each play lasts about 20 minutes, a time span which was chosen with the shamans
of Tuva
in mind, and how each of their rituals produces a different journey. The 20-minute period of intense music was also chosen to deviate from the standard music CD playing times, albeit an "infinite" number of different 20-minute plays.
In October 2008 the software developed for this project was made available to anyone interested in working with it. Wilson also prepared a continuous play version of Infinity for the K-Space exhibition in the Stuttgart
Ethnographic Museum.
described the music on the album as a "lengthy and chaotic excursion into primitive percussive music, a tribal-shamanic-psychedelic mayhem with atonal instruments." John Cavanagh of The Herald
in Glasgow
said in a review of the album that even though he knew each listening was the result of a "computer triggered sequence", it always sounded like a "cohesive musical work, as though it was meant to be that way".
or an Apple Mac
computer. The computer software required to play the music is included on the CD. The computer must have a CD drive, a 200 MHz or greater processor, at least 1.5Gb of RAM, and a sound card or stereo interface.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
n experimental
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
music ensemble K-Space
K-Space (band)
K-Space are a British-Siberian experimental electroacoustic improvisation music ensemble comprising Scottish percussionist Ken Hyder, English multi-instrumentalist Tim Hodgkinson, and Siberian percussionist and throat singer Gendos Chamzyryn. The trio was formed in Tuva, Siberia in 1996...
. It was released in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in August 2008 by Ad Hoc Records, an affiliate of Recommended Records
Recommended Records
Recommended Records is a British independent record label and distribution network founded by Chris Cutler in March 1978. RēR features largely "Rock in Opposition" and related music, but it also distributes selected music released on other independent labels.In 1982 Cutler established November...
, and was a new type of CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
that is different every time it is played.
"Infinity" will not work in a standard CD player and requires a computer to play it. Each time the CD is played, supplied software remixes
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
source material located on the disc and produces a new 20-minute musical piece. The CD cannot be paused or fast-forwarded, and there are no tracks to select. The only controls available are "PLAY" and "STOP".
The music produced by the CD is electroacoustic improvisation
Electroacoustic improvisation
Electroacoustic improvisation is a style of music that incorporates aspects of both electroacoustic music and free improvisation.-Origins:Live electronics has been part of the sound art world since the 1930s with the early works of John Cage...
that is rooted in Tuva
Tuva
The Tyva Republic , or Tuva , is a federal subject of Russia . It lies in the geographical center of Asia, in southern Siberia. The republic borders with the Altai Republic, the Republic of Khakassia, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, and the Republic of Buryatia in Russia and with Mongolia to the...
n shaman ritual
Shamanism
Shamanism is an anthropological term referencing a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world. To quote Eliade: "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = technique of ecstasy." Shamanism encompasses the...
music.
Background
K-Space was formed in 1996 after a series of study trips to SiberiaSiberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
by Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
percussionist Ken Hyder
Ken Hyder
Ken Hyder is a Scottish jazz fusion drummer and percussionist born in Dundee, Scotland, perhaps best-known for combining folk, ethnic and Celtic music with jazz...
and English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
multi-instrumentalist Tim Hodgkinson
Tim Hodgkinson
Tim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
. They were exploring the improvisational and musical aspects of shamanism
Shamanism
Shamanism is an anthropological term referencing a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world. To quote Eliade: "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = technique of ecstasy." Shamanism encompasses the...
when they met up with Gendos Chamzyryn, a shaman
Shamanism
Shamanism is an anthropological term referencing a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world. To quote Eliade: "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = technique of ecstasy." Shamanism encompasses the...
and musician from Tuva
Tuva
The Tyva Republic , or Tuva , is a federal subject of Russia . It lies in the geographical center of Asia, in southern Siberia. The republic borders with the Altai Republic, the Republic of Khakassia, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, and the Republic of Buryatia in Russia and with Mongolia to the...
. Hyder, Hodgkinson and Chamzyryn formed K-Space to experiment with improvised music rooted in the Tuva
Tuva
The Tyva Republic , or Tuva , is a federal subject of Russia . It lies in the geographical center of Asia, in southern Siberia. The republic borders with the Altai Republic, the Republic of Khakassia, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, and the Republic of Buryatia in Russia and with Mongolia to the...
n shamanic ritual
Shamanism
Shamanism is an anthropological term referencing a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world. To quote Eliade: "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = technique of ecstasy." Shamanism encompasses the...
.
Their second album, Going Up (2004) was a sound collage
Sound collage
In music, montage or sound collage is a technique where sound objects or compositions, including songs, are created from collage, also known as montage, the use of portions of previous recordings or scores...
of K-Space performances plus field recording
Field recording
Field recording is the term used for an audio recording produced outside of a recording studio. The recording is typically recorded in the same channel format as the desired result, for instance, stereo recording equipment will yield a stereo product...
s of shamanic rituals, manipulated and superimposed on one another. Infinity extended Going Ups production process and made it dynamic to produce a new mix
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
with each play.
Technology
The idea for the Infinity project began when Tim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson
Tim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
started describing some of the implicit rules that K-Space
K-Space (band)
K-Space are a British-Siberian experimental electroacoustic improvisation music ensemble comprising Scottish percussionist Ken Hyder, English multi-instrumentalist Tim Hodgkinson, and Siberian percussionist and throat singer Gendos Chamzyryn. The trio was formed in Tuva, Siberia in 1996...
use during their live improvisations
Musical improvisation
Musical improvisation is the creative activity of immediate musical composition, which combines performance with communication of emotions and instrumental technique as well as spontaneous response to other musicians...
. It occurred to him that these rules could be embedded in software that would produce interesting variations on the original process. Hodgkinson discussed his ideas with Andy Wilson (aka The Grand Erector), a software design
Software design
Software design is a process of problem solving and planning for a software solution. After the purpose and specifications of software are determined, software developers will design or employ designers to develop a plan for a solution...
er and webmaster
Webmaster
A webmaster , also called a web architect, web developer, site author, or website administrator is a person responsible for maintaining one or many websites...
of German krautrock
Krautrock
Krautrock is a generic name for the experimental music scenes that appeared in Germany in the late 1960s and gained popularity throughout the 1970s, especially in Britain. The term is a result of the English-speaking world's reception of the music at the time and not a reference to any one...
band Faust
Faust (band)
Faust are a German krautrock band. Formed in 1971 in Wümme, the group was originally composed of Werner "Zappi" Diermaier, Hans Joachim Irmler, Arnulf Meifert, Jean-Hervé Péron, Rudolf Sosna and Gunther Wüsthoff, working with record producer Uwe Nettelbeck and engineer Kurt Graupner.-History:Faust...
's website, The Faust Pages. They investigated ways to select sound files within different contexts and to use them in different ways to produce a new stream of music with each play. Wilson then set about developing "metacompositional" software that compiles and sequences deconstructed fragments of sound files. These sound sources were provided by K-Space and include field recording
Field recording
Field recording is the term used for an audio recording produced outside of a recording studio. The recording is typically recorded in the same channel format as the desired result, for instance, stereo recording equipment will yield a stereo product...
s, throat singing
Overtone singing
Overtone singing, also known as overtone chanting, or harmonic singing, is a type of singing in which the singer manipulates the resonances created as air travels from the lungs, past the vocal folds, and out the lips to produce a melody.The partials of a sound wave made by the human voice can be...
, various percussion, string and reed instruments. The number of audio files available were restricted by the size limitations of the CD format, but when combined and permutated, they would create an apparently infinite number of different "compositions", and hence the album title Infinity.
The audio files are categorized into a number of groups, including acoustic, live, solo, environmental and loops. A single audio file can be used in many different ways by varying, for example, dynamic levels
Dynamics (music)
In music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a sound or note, but can also refer to every aspect of the execution of a given piece, either stylistic or functional . The term is also applied to the written or printed musical notation used to indicate dynamics...
, volume and duration of play. For a particular piece, for example, the software might select any two of seven acoustic files and play them together for x seconds, adding one of four environmental files after y seconds.
The sound source selection process the software uses is not random, but algorithm
Algorithm
In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm is an effective method expressed as a finite list of well-defined instructions for calculating a function. Algorithms are used for calculation, data processing, and automated reasoning...
ic based on scores
Sheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
Hodgkinson wrote for the project. Each time "PLAY" is pressed, the software selects a new score which it uses to construct a new piece of music. The score consists of a set of audio file selection criteria, which vary depending on what has happened before. While there are a finite number of scores on the CD, there are many different interpretations of each score.
Each play lasts about 20 minutes, a time span which was chosen with the shamans
Shamanism
Shamanism is an anthropological term referencing a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world. To quote Eliade: "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = technique of ecstasy." Shamanism encompasses the...
of Tuva
Tuva
The Tyva Republic , or Tuva , is a federal subject of Russia . It lies in the geographical center of Asia, in southern Siberia. The republic borders with the Altai Republic, the Republic of Khakassia, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, and the Republic of Buryatia in Russia and with Mongolia to the...
in mind, and how each of their rituals produces a different journey. The 20-minute period of intense music was also chosen to deviate from the standard music CD playing times, albeit an "infinite" number of different 20-minute plays.
In October 2008 the software developed for this project was made available to anyone interested in working with it. Wilson also prepared a continuous play version of Infinity for the K-Space exhibition in the Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
Ethnographic Museum.
Reception
Modern music historian Piero ScaruffiPiero Scaruffi
Piero Scaruffi received a degree in Mathematics in 1982 from University of Turin, where he did work on the General Theory of Relativity. For a number of years he was the head of the Artificial Intelligence Center at Olivetti, based in Cupertino, California. He has been a visiting scholar at...
described the music on the album as a "lengthy and chaotic excursion into primitive percussive music, a tribal-shamanic-psychedelic mayhem with atonal instruments." John Cavanagh of The Herald
The Herald (Glasgow)
The Herald is a broadsheet newspaper published Monday to Saturday in Glasgow, and available throughout Scotland. As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 47,226, giving it a lead over Scotland's other 'quality' national daily, The Scotsman, published in Edinburgh.The 1889 to 1906 editions...
in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
said in a review of the album that even though he knew each listening was the result of a "computer triggered sequence", it always sounded like a "cohesive musical work, as though it was meant to be that way".
Requirements
"Infinity" must be played on a Windows PCMicrosoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
or an Apple Mac
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
computer. The computer software required to play the music is included on the CD. The computer must have a CD drive, a 200 MHz or greater processor, at least 1.5Gb of RAM, and a sound card or stereo interface.
K-Space
- Ken HyderKen HyderKen Hyder is a Scottish jazz fusion drummer and percussionist born in Dundee, Scotland, perhaps best-known for combining folk, ethnic and Celtic music with jazz...
– percussion, drum kit, dungur, voice, ektara, bass ektara, sound manipulation - Tim HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
– lap steel guitar, clarinet, bass clarinet, klarnet, alto saxophone, voice, dungur, percussion, ocarina, sound manipulation - Gendos Chamzyryn – voice, dungur, percussion, dopshuluur, chadagan, cello, khomous, ocarina
Software development
- Andy Wilson – programming, technical assistance, oversight