Autoimmune Disorder

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• published: 26 May 2010
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Olga Berar's Final Master's Recital (2nd Part) Cork School of Music 5 May 2010 Violin: Olga Berar Percussion: Alex Petcu Technical Supervisor: Constantin Basica The human immune system is a complex network of cells and cell components that normally work to defend the body and eliminate infections. If a person has an autoimmune disorder, the immune system mistakenly attacks the cells, tissues, and organs of the person's own body. This type of abnormal behavior is compared by the composer with the way human beings treat the environment nowadays. Mistakenly or not, our planet is being assaulted by its own inhabitants. The meaning of the title is not only a metaphor for the main theme of the piece, it can also be found in the score, especially in the violin part. The writing is most of the time very difficult for the violin player, with complicated passages and rhythms, almost like the composer would fight against its own performer. The computer, along with the acoustic instruments, plays a very important part in this multimedia work, generating audio effects and visual images in real-time. The synchronization between analog and digital is made with the help of microphones, pedal-MIDI-controllers, a webcam and an iPod. Throughout the piece, the violin and the percussion players are required to press pedals at certain times, controlling both the audio and the video elements. The piece has five parts called Symptoms, each being inspired by an aspect of the treated subject. Symptom 1 acts as a short intro and gives the violin player the freedom of improvising with the instrument. The freedom of playing is enriched by a freedom of movement, captured and sent to the computer by a wireless electronic device placed on the player's hand. The movements interact with the audio effects and the visual images. The violin player is not given the chance to produce any conventional sounds, a plastic bag being wrapped on the violin's neck. At the same time, the visuals illustrate a random movement of a plastic bag, a symbol of pollution. Symptom 2 is composed algorithmically using a technique called "data visualization", which involves translating raw data and statistics into artistic expressions. A list of all the countries sorted by their CO2 emissions in 2006 was taken by the composer and first converted into notes. He then wrote the score respecting the exact order of pitches, but choosing the rhythms and the form. This can be described as “data audiolization”. The list was also used to generate the video: all the flags of the countries are placed in a three-dimensional space, with different sizes and positions, according to their CO2 emissions. Symptom 3 deals with different ways of land and air pollution. These are clearly illustrated by the six videos projected on the inner walls of a cube. Although the camera moves freely inside the cube, it can’t get out, symbolizing the walls that people build around themselves and getting isolated from nature. The music has an important role in the overall violent feeling of this part, having timpani and drum set for percussion and three prerecorded violins in addition to the player. Symptom 4 describes the effects which toxic waste has on humans. The video is a live capture of the violin player, with black and white tone and distorted image, suggesting illness and contamination. The computer accompaniment was composed in the Bohlen-Pierce scale, which divides the perfect twelfth intro 13 equal steps, instead of the octave into 12. This gives every step 146,3 cents instead of 100 used in equal-temperament. That’s why the scale and its chords sound strange to our ear, like something deformed. Symptom 5 has a sonata form, in which the two contrasting themes are “overbuilding” and/while “forrest cutting”. The last part is constructed with the help of elements from the other parts, almost like in a recycling process. The marimba, which is a wood instrument, plays in equal-temperament, while the computer-marimba is tuned in Bohlen-Pierce scale. Although it’s still called a symptom and not a cure, the part finishes in a positive note, expressing the idea that things are being done against destroying the nature. "The piece, although very explicit at some points, should not be considered a morality lesson, but instead an artistic expression of facts that can’t be denied and shouldn’t be neglected", concludes the composer.