Composition 01: Apoapsis, Hugo Paquete. 2019
Duration: 18:12 min
Multichannel fixed composition.

The composition Apoapsis by Hugo Paquete developed at Zkm / Hertz Labor in 2019. Explores the idea of distance between oblique orbital points and paths, tensions and attractions between sound bodies of different granular scales that are shaped by impulses and percussive impacts. A wrapped universe of constant interactions where musical forms, sound masses and noises develop various attractions and repulsion in constant micro rithmic and harmonic turbulence. The Apoapsis concept comes from the term “apsis” which is the farthest point from the center of attraction: the high point in an orbit. This concept is fundamental to understand the work, considering that its production involved a complex system of hardware and software to generate a sonification that involves collecting in real-time “data” from satellites to convert this “data” into musical models and expressive sound forms. Thus, there is a direct relationship between the movement of commercial and military satellites and the sound generated in this work, the material used and the composition are self referential to the satellite movement. The satellite tracking system will be use in the future in performative live improvisations. Let us say that this work explores with satellite movement sonifications processes to rethink composition, involving “data” conversion, and objects that act in autonomous ways. The presented connections established a personal methodology to generate sound, formal and aesthetic possibilities in music interpretation, performing and notation, as well a reflection on notions of physic scales, sound space and residual sound elements. We can think of the dimension of a satellite in the cosmos, universe, in the space it occupies and its dynamic state in an unreachable landscape by the eye and the hear, just accessed and mediated by technology. I am interested in put the expansion of territory and imagination into discourse in my musical approach, transforming these ideas, in musical methodologies to compose and perform, extrapolation macro and micro sound, explored with sound spacialization resembling the satellites orbits. In this point, bringing the scientific and technological imagination, the fields of invisibility and deafness, and the mediation with the hyper-optic and hyper-sonic technology that we use to access other levels of sensitive experience, building interdisciplinary meninges in contemporary music and performance art practices in sound art. Turning to a sound that seeks an extreme in its granular, microscopic and impermissible representations, bringing the opposites of the scales from the macro to the micro, as spaces that mediate an entire invisibility and deafness of vibrating occult forces in the liminal perception. (Paquete,2019)

Composition 02: Periapsis, Hugo Paquete. 2019
Duration: 30:28 min
Multichannel fixed composition.

Concept: The composition Periapsis by Hugo Paquete developed at Zkm / Hertz Labor in 2019. It is a composition that relates to another one called Apoapsis, Hugo Paquete, 2019. The concept of Periapsis can be understood as for an object moving in an elliptical orbit about another celestial body, the point of closest approach is called the periapsis. The presented concept of elliptic trajectories in the two pieces was used to develop an oblique strategy to structured the music piece, and exist a direct relationship with the pitch variations and the spacialization sound approach. Both pieces use a sophisticated satellite tracking system defined as, hardware and software, build especificly for the project that converts the movement of commercial or military satellites into midi and cc messages. The “Data” generated by the satellites is converted in real time and used to compose the two music pieces, using a set of sound libraries specifically designed to work and interact with this “data” generating a musical translation. The two works explore a dramatic aesthetic, with dynamic temporal formulas, spatial variations, timpani variations and collisions between pitch, harmonic expansions and noise that generate a granular turbulence in the space. Where masses of sound generate a granulation effect through which impulses traverse, freeze and ar transformed into residual elements of pitch fragmentation and expansions. The sensation is intense, and the sound is modulated and shapes us in a complex way, with its multiple sound directions wen presented in a multichannel sound system, in that moment, we can perceive the formal directions of rapid attacks and eccentric tympanic transitions crossed by a shower of white, pink and brown noise like meteorites or grit of sand. This granular effects generate an elemental rhythmic times shifts exploring relations of actions and reaction in a micro level of sound perception. In this work I put in practice some concepts which I am dealing and exploring in my music and composition methodologies, building dynamic and detailed micro-temporal sound-events that deals with residual sound-events and ideas of micro-rithmic collisions, orbits, obliquity and data-sound events mediated by sonification processes. The detail is a very important factor in my composition and sound work to build complex sound experiences. Is important as a sound artist demonstration mastery in the way I sculpts time and sound-events, stablishing modulations in time, musical forms with meaning that can network with the listener and the surrounding worls in a complex way. (Paquete,2019)

These two multichannel sound compositions are part of a performative experiment, they need to be understand as on piece with related parts, that can be fragmented and reshaped in different ways wen performed in real time with the tracking satellite system controlling analogue and virtual hardware and software in the context of performance. They were developed using sonifications movement data collected from commercial and military satellites converted to sounds by a sonification process using the latitude, longitude and the azimuth, Using special design hardware and software developed for this project in partnership with my collaborators Christopher Zlaket (1992) of Arizona State University, specialized in interface design and David Stingley (1993) of MIT, specialized in computer science, as well as sound libraries, virtual instruments and other technical and conceptual models to achieve the desired result in terms of sound composition and aesthetic effect.

The project was developed with the support and funding of the European i-Portunus project. Also with the collaboration of EMERGE - Contemporary Art Agency. I also acknowledge the FCT: Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia which support me as a researcher. Thanks to ZKM/HERTZ-Labor for all the support and collaboration. The project was develop in the ZKM/ Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe in the Hertz Labor music department. This project is a development of a theoretical research that was published in book: Cinema Avanca International Conference 2017, Edition: Cine-Clube de Avanca, Chapter: Cinema - Art, Publisher: Cine-Clube de Avanca, Editors: Cine-Clube de Avanca, pp.240-250

Hugo PAQUETE, Adérito Fernandes-MARCOS, Paulo Bernardino BASTOS, “Dromologia dos corpos orbitais: Projeto de desenvolvimento de hardware e estratégias de composição sonora”, Encontro Internacional “#18.ART: DA ADMIRÁVEL ORDEM DAS COISAS: arte, emoção e tecnologia, Portugal. 2019

The project explore two different level of invisibility one suspended in the space “big scale” and the other “microbiological scale” and I want generate a work that represent this to level of realism.

Part of this project was published In book: 16th International Meeting of Art and Technology: #16.ART: Artis intelligentia: IMAGINING THE REAL, Edition: i2ADS – Instituto de Investigação em Arte, Design e Sociedade, Chapter: Artist Talk, Publisher: i2ADS – Instituto de Investigação em Arte, Design e Sociedade, Editors: i2ADS – Instituto de Investigação em Arte,
Design e Sociedade, pp.1055-1057.