From the Unseen World Barry D. Truax

Alan Turing (1912-1954) was the brilliant British mathematician who is widely recognized as the father of the modern computer at the University of Manchester, having demonstrated its theoretical possibility in what is known as the Turing machine. He also became famous after his death when his role during World War II in deciphering the German “Enigma” code that was key to the British war effort in the Atlantic finally became publicly known. From The Unseen World is based on the digitally processed “Christopher arpeggio” which turns it into an ethereal swirl of harmonics, the title being a phrase of Turing’s to refer to the spirit dimension — and by extension to Christopher. The pitches that are not part of the arpeggio are heard in a bell-like chord that symbolizes the real world.

  • Year of composition: 2012
  • Genre: Electroacoustics
  • Format: Mixed work
  • Instrumentation: piano and 6 digital soundtracks
  • Software used: SoundHack for convolution, audio spatialization with the TiMax2 SoundHub
  • Duration of the submitted work: 12:20
  • Publisher: Cambridge Street Publishing
  • Premiere: October 28, 2012, Mantis Festival, University of Manchester, Manchester
  • Disc publication: From The Unseen World is available on the Cambridge Street Records CD, The Elements and Beyond, CSR-CD 1401, performed by Barry Truax

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