Calum Gunn

ISEA2016
My art encompasses academic computer music and rave culture & sounds. In my work, I mainly focus on the deconstruction of rhythm, subverting the notion of dance music. Having created pieces inspired by ‘classic’ rave sounds, modern edm and early techno, my work reproduces familiar sounds, arranging them into new patterns and tones. Often times these pieces are performed with accompanying visuals that feature screeds of text generating in time with the audio. The stark presentation of words, appearing in random colours upon a black background, at first seems simplistic but soon unifies the audio with the themes of the piece. The text provides clues to content and interpretation. I use a variety of software and hardware in my processes, primarily the open-source audio programming language supercollider. The research and development of my work arises through experimenting with programming algorithms and interfaces to control them. Often, a project will begin to take shape from a simple rhythmic or timbral idea, and be iterated upon to add complexity and variation. Each project eventually takes the shape of an album-length suite of interpretations, to be compiled and released as the definitive version of the work. During research and production new areas of interest arise and lead to the next body of work.