Presentation of the residency Cosmologies of the Concert Grand Piano by the artist Aaron Einbond

- Can you introduce yourself?

I am a composer working at the intersection of instrumental music, sound installation, field recording, and technology, bringing the spontaneity of live performance together with computer interactivity. My recent work focuses on audio transcription as the center of a creative process bridging composition, improvisation, interpretation, and questioning the thresholds of perception between instrument, loudspeaker, stage, and place. I see technology as a tool to bring performers and listeners closer to the rich timbral details of musical instruments as well as the ambient sounds of our environment.

- Can you present your project “Cosmologies of the Concert Grand Piano”?

Cosmologies is a project to delve into the inner life of the concert grand piano and situate the listener in a virtual space flickering with its real and imaginary sounds. Artificial intelligence research is ubiquitous, yet often ignores the spatial presence of the live instrument and performer. In this project, I propose to use machine learning to decipher the intricate interdependencies of timbre and space that bring an instrument to life. With OM7/om-spat the project will interrogate the musical microcosm of the piano interior as it is exploded out to the space of the concert hall surrounding the listener.

- What do you expect from this residency?

While I have worked on projects with music technology throughout my artistic career, this project will make more complex demands than before on computer programs, algorithms, acoustical science and technical thinking. This requires collaboration to produce a project that is broader than I could conceive as a composer alone.  Working with Jean Bresson on the technical project OM7/om-spat, as well as collaborators Diemo Schwarz and Thibaut Carpentier, I hope will provide this opportunity to conceive a sonic performance situation beyond what I could imagine alone.