Agostino Di Scipio and Dario Sanfilippo: Machine Milieu

Compact disc and digital download, 2021, available from Toxo Records, Naples, Italy. www.toxorecords.com or from www.bandcamp.com.Machine Milieu is an album based around a live electronics project by Agostino Di Scipio and Dario Sanfilippo that brings together two dynamical computer music systems, independently developed and designed to interact with each other through the performance environment. The two systems might be considered as extensions or variations of Di Scipio's Audible Ecosystemics works—particularly “Background Noise Study” and “Feedback Study” (2003–2005), and of Sanfilippo's “Audible Icarus” (2012–2018) and the Single-Fader Versatility project (2013–2019). Their collaboration culminated in July 2021 with a self-titled release on Toxo Records, available both as a digital album and as a compact disc.In this performance duo, Di Scipio and Sanfilippo make use of different audio programming and DSP techniques, microphones, loudspeakers, piezo discs, and carton pipes to create a hybrid assemblage in which both performers and technological devices lean on the shared acoustic environment as a medium of energetic and informational exchange. According to the duo, “the idea is to consider the human performer, equipment, and performance space as three sites of agency mutually connected in the medium of sound, capable of developing an integral and possibly autonomous ‘performance ecosystem’ based on site-specific sonic information only.” To describe the complex musical dynamics of such a system, in the liner notes they write that “it resulted more in a kind of quartet than a duo: an ensemble with two human performers and two [sonic] machines, the latter claiming their autonomy more often than not.”The twelve tracks in this collection were recorded in Di Scipio's studio in L'Aquila in June 2014 and December 2015. Track by track, Di Scipio and Sanfilippo explore different couplings of their two computer music systems and the surrounding environment, as well as various forms of live intervention. In the liner notes they mainly describe three modes of performance. In some sessions, they frequently interfered with their own system's operations, either through the computer interface or by manipulating analog and mechanical components of the electroacoustic setup (microphones, piezo discs, studio speakers, small acoustic resonators, etc.). In other takes, they “contrast the machines in their autonomous process, in an attempt to force them to reach a somewhat stable state, heard as a prolonged sonic texture.” Finally, they also performed “with minimal (if any) intervention, letting the two systems proceed unsupervised for several minutes,” giving rise to sounding situations “they would never achieve when operating as separate systems, in separate contexts.” In particular, the performance approach characterized by minimal interventions is found in the first four tracks of the release.In this respect, the opening track, “Metastable,” is likely the most radical. The system, set up in the simplest self-regulating feedback configuration, is initialized and allowed to perform without any further intervention. The local acoustic environment (the rather quiet background noise heard in the surroundings of Agostino's studio, with windows open wide) is recursively amplified, producing soft Larsen tones in the middle and low registers. Throughout the track these appear, disappear, and reappear again, in between the sound of footsteps, people chatting in the distance, and vehicles passing by. The sonic dialogue between the local acoustic situation and the Larsen tones draws attention to the relationship of the electroacoustic setup to the concrete space in which it is installed. This relationship is central to the “ecosystemic” approach that grounds the Machine Milieu project, reflecting a practice that experiences sound as an event emerging from a specific performance environment, and forged by the related material conditions. Ideally, “Metastable” situates and grounds the listening to the rest of the tracks.Whereas there is an audible distinction in “Metastable“ between the background noise (or any other sound of the particular performance space) and the sounds occasioned by the performance process in that space (specifically, Larsen tones), in all of the other tracks it is difficult to discern the distinction between the two. The systems that Di Scipio and Sanfilippo use in the album Machine Milieu accumulate the site-specific background noise in one or more electroacoustic feedback loops, turning the latter into idiosyncratic sound generators. The surrounding environment is, thus, not perceived in its concrete manifestations: One will not no longer hear, for example, the footsteps or vehicles that appear in “Metastable.” Rather, what is heard is how the performance space interacts with the whole electroacoustic system, coloring resonances and influencing the recursive circulation of sound. The environment is part of an irreducible entanglement of feedback relationships that gives rise to a malleable space of emergent sonic possibilities, which Di Scipio and Sanfilippo navigate in performance through delicate and calibrated interventions. This results in musical developments and textures that are striking in their liveliness, and sudden changes that surprise with their sense of coherence and intentionality.The second track, “Concrescence 1,” begins by slowly fading in sustained resonances and soft noise textures in a reverberant soundscape that evolves through subtle internal articulations and gradual spectral changes. The overall impression is that of a process of stratification and rarefaction of different sonic layers, in which the sound picked up by the microphones is recursively amplified and subject to complex electronic processing. One notices a certain interdependency of the different layers. They audibly affect each other, and volatile sound events in particular seem to perturb extended, larger-scale developments. The transitions feel extremely organic, making the detailed care that was put into the design of the synergistic interactions of the sound processing perceivable. The second half of the piece marks the appearance of crumpling sounds and gating effects applied to the sustained resonances, leading to a fragmented situation that contrasts with the more-static first half.The third and fourth tracks of the release, “Concrescence 2” and “Concrescence 3,” move in a similar atmosphere but with more dense textures and a prevalence of shimmering, long sustained metallic tones in the high register. The two tracks share the same intonation in their pitched materials, suggesting that they might originate from the same recording session. In “Concrescence 2” one hears a process of gradual accumulation of different sound layers twice, followed by a rapid decline to a sparser, quiet state. During the second build-up the sustained tones gain an alluring, almost vocal quality, emerging out of a combination of concrete resonators (carton pipes wrapped around microphones) and processing with live electronics. After reaching a climax, these tones disappear in a burst of noise, in what might feel like the conclusion of the track. Yet, around 30 seconds later, they suddenly come back, transposed and modulated through different sampling techniques. Combined with a soft reverberation, this gives life to a sort of ephemeral, fragmented synthetic choir, which surprises with its vibrancy. The reappearance of these tones in the last section hints at some temporal characteristics of the feedback systems Di Scipio and Sanfilippo are using. They can hold in memory past sound events and make them appear again, at a later time, contributing to a sense of musical coherence and form.The fifth track on the album, “Contexture 1,” opens in a calm atmosphere, with some static pitched tones that recall the sound of electric hums. The steady scenery is punctuated by sparse saturated sonic events, similar to low-pass-filtered impulses, with a hesitant, explorative character. They sound like intentional attempts at interfering with the feedback system, which seems to react to these perturbations with small adjustments that produce subtle timbral variations in the texture. At times some granular gestures emerge, producing subtle glissandi or brief patterns. Nevertheless, the overall character is stationary and restful, except for a sudden feedback burst at the end of the piece that rapidly saturates the whole spectrum. This comes rather unexpectedly, and the listener is left to wonder what caused this sudden outbreak.Track 6, “Contexture 2,” is characterized by some seemingly granular processes with variable rates and transpositions that generate brief glissando gestures or rallentando and accelerando effects. These processes seem to self-regulate themselves and to adapt to the sounds captured by the microphones, especially to the unstable Larsen tones, which are kept right at the threshold of feedback. Towards the second half of the track, piezoelectric pickups are moved and tapped against other objects, adding a certain concrete character to the soundscape. All these elements constitute a malleable sonic situation that is striking for its vitality and for a certain sense of fragility and unpredictability.Upon listening to the seventh track, “Contexture 3,” one is presented with a sonic image that is rather different from the others described so far. The piece begins with scattered, impulsive sound events that might recall some low-pass-filtered, soft percussive action. These sound events likely go through a cumulative looping process, with multiple buffers and delay lines that resample the microphone signals at different speeds. This rapidly creates a dense crumpling texture in which one can perceive a complex multiplicity of temporal layers that appear to affect each other over time. After reaching a climax the texture gradually dissipates, returning to a state that is more quiet, with sparse bubbling sounds in the low register. At about four minutes these disappear, leading to a more airy section that gravitates around the manipulation of drone room resonances.The eighth track, “Conjuncture 1,” begins with a combination of boosted, filtered resonances, crackling sounds, and granular-sounding techniques, which at times create an effect of fast stuttering. Some resonances have a slight vocal color that was obtained by holding a miniature microphone in the performer's mouth and playing with the oral cavity as a variable resonator. Glottal stops are also heard at the beginning and end of the track, enriching the texture and triggering electronic processing that alters the overall timbral shape. The vague vocal color that permeates the whole track interweaves with layers of sustained drones, forming a hybrid listening environment that feels simultaneously concrete and abstract.In track 9, “Conjuncture 2,” a brief pitched sound repeats at slightly irregular intervals, creating a stuttering texture characterized by short hesitant fragments. This is initially accompanied by a set of vaguely inharmonic, bell-like resonances, which soon disappear, leaving space for a sparser soundscape, featuring a low-frequency drone and some static, high-pitched tones. Some of these elements reappear in “Conjuncture 3,” the tenth and shortest track of the release.Although “Conjuncture 3” feels like a continuation of “Conjuncture 2,” it has a rougher character. The bass bourdon here is more saturated and the Larsen tones are a bit more distorted, with sporadic inharmonic artifacts. The three “Conjuncture” pieces are the tracks in which Di Scipio and Sanfilippo concretely performed the most, with rather frequent interventions and interactions with their systems. Nevertheless, one does not really perceive a substantial difference, in terms of sonic activity and liveliness, with the other tracks. This likely demonstrates the degree of complexity of the dynamical systems they designed. Even when left to perform unsupervised, they can autonomously generate musical developments and deliver a sense of coherence and intentionality comparable to those resulting from a more “hands-on” performance.The last two tracks are called “Conlarsence 1” and “Conlarsence 2.” As the names suggest, their development centers on the stratification of Larsen tones and resonances, which Di Scipio and Sanfilippo manipulate mainly by acting on the microphone levels and on the output gain of the digital processing. One can perceive the extreme gentleness that is put into these interventions, creating gradual drone developments that feel natural and detailed. Together with the opening track, “Metastable,” the two “Conlarsence” tracks are probably those in which the performance environment is most clearly perceived. They deliver a good sense of space, and the balance between the concrete resonances of Di Scipio's studio and their electronic processing is especially delicate.Overall, Machine Milieu by Di Scipio and Sanfilippo is a release not to be missed by anyone interested in performance ecosystems and, more generally, in experimental computer music. Their hybrid assemblage of human performers and performing machines, combined with a special sensitivity to the contingencies of the performance space, gives life to emergent musical situations that surprise via their organic qualities. There is also a sense of general coherence throughout the whole album that makes one reflect about the careful work of composing a complex system that allows exploration of different soundscapes and various forms of interaction while, at the same time, maintaining a strong sonic identity. As such, Machine Milieu is both pure pleasure for the ears and thought provoking, and it will appeal to everyone looking for vibrant live electronics music.