Jonathan Harvey: total immersion
Seven years ago, my colleague Lamberto Coccioli and I wrote a research paper for the International Computer Music Conference outlining our intentions to develop a new software version of the electronics in Jonathan Harvey’s Madonna of Winter and Spring. Last night the system was used for the first time in public performance at the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s ‘total immersion’ event at the Barbican Centre in London.
Madonna of Winter and Spring is an incredible piece, featuring Symphony Orchestra, amplification, ring modulation, reverb, dual panning, Yamaha TX816, Yamaha DX1 and Emulator II sampler. However, these synthesis components have made the piece cumbersome to perform, with hardware versions being rare and unwieldy to setup and software versions requiring complex combinations of commercial software, some of which is already obsolete.
The new version we have developed as part of the EU-funded Integra Project, attempts to make the electronics for the piece both more sustainable and more performable. It achieves this through the use of a fully open source, entirely software based system, which simple to setup and use. This system runs on two computers and consists of:
- the Hexter DX7 emulation plugin by Sean Bolton
- a new external for the Pure Data environment, for hosting DSSI plugins
- a new software sampler implemented entirely in Pure Data
- ring modulation and panning provided by Integra Live
In the Barbican performance last night, the panning was controlled by an iPad running TouchOSC and communicating with Integra Live via wireless MIDI.
The performance was played in its entirety on BBC Radio 3’s Hear and Now programme. Moments where the synths are prominent include 1:01 - 1:07 and 1:17 - 1:20, although synthesis and electronics appear throughout.
Working with Sound Intermedia and the the BBC Symphony Orchestra this week has been a delight. It has been both exciting and rewarding to see the results of seven years’ work come to fruition. To my knowledge, this marks the first ever use of open source DX7 emulation software for a large scale orchestral work with electronics. The materials we have developed now reside with Harvey’s publishers, Faber Music, and will be used in all future performances.
This is a great achievement for the future performability of works involving DX7-based synthesis and I’d like to thank all who’ve made this possible, specifically Sean Bolton, Miller Puckette, Lamberto Coccioli, Dag Henning Kalvøy and James Dooley. At this moment, I am very proud.
