<i>Rubble</i> (2025) - Score Backing Audio
<p dir="ltr"><i>Rubble</i> features a backing track, which consists of recorded plucked and bowed overtones on the plastibass. The pre-recorded audio directly mirrors the pitch set sequence for performance; it is designed to function as an extension of the plastimoss surface, layering and amplifying its material qualities through sound. The backing track plays for the duration of the work, enriching the timbral density of the live sounds from the plastibass, first through a mix with the stereo speaker playback, then through transducers in the second half of the piece. </p><p dir="ltr">The backing track consists of a recording of the pitch set structure processed through a Strymon Deco reel-to-reel tape simulator (<i>Deco v2 Tape Saturation & Doubletracker - Strymon</i>, 2024) and spring reverb. These effects bend, augment, reverse and double the recorded overtone material, introducing a slight plasticity to the sound through subtle echo, flanging and overdrive. Additional textures from a Moog Muse synthesizer gradually emerge in the backing audio, carefully matching and highlighting the timbral characteristics of the bass (<i>Muse</i>, 2024).</p><p dir="ltr">The second half of <i>Rubble</i> marks a gradual re-routing of this audio to the two transducer speakers, and the sound progressively becomes more distorted and spatially diffused through the instrument body. At this point, the interactive area of ‘play’ defined on the fingerboard is expanded outwards onto the rest of the instrument body, which becomes a surface for the performer to trace and explore via the tactile transducer speaker. This shift is guided by an abstracted video of the plastimoss image, which begins to play behind the performer and functions as a visual cue to inspire the motion of re-tracing. This process gradually recontextualises and distorts the audio from the first half, transforming familiar sonic materials into fragmented sonic impressions. The layering of subtly distorted overtones, echoed through spring reverb, creates an intimate and distant quality to their sounds. As the piece progresses, the audio becomes increasingly abstracted and stretched - illustrative of the inconstancy of memory.</p><p dir="ltr">Sound designer: Helen Svoboda<br>Recording engineer: Sam Maguire</p>
