The Automata Angels
. . for percussion and computers
The Automata Angels is not about angels. The piece is not even about automatons, even though in a way they are partly the inspiration of the piece. The title was given to me as part of a larger text from long time collaborator Georg Hobmeier where we had been working on the theme of myths and legends blaming the degradation of memory for our current other-worldly expectations.
The piece itself is inspired by automated routines based on simple rules; these were written down for the percussion while the other layers were learned by the computer performers. The computer performers play the role of storytellers who have learned their chants from the machine. The video created for the piece by Leo Lass visualises this social behaviour between the machine and musicians in an idolatrous way returning to the Hobmeier text which says:
. . for percussion and computers
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Automata Angels STREAM MACHINES ARTEksounds ART002 2013 
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The Automata Angels is not about angels. The piece is not even about automatons, even though in a way they are partly the inspiration of the piece. The title was given to me as part of a larger text from long time collaborator Georg Hobmeier where we had been working on the theme of myths and legends blaming the degradation of memory for our current other-worldly expectations.
The piece itself is inspired by automated routines based on simple rules; these were written down for the percussion while the other layers were learned by the computer performers. The computer performers play the role of storytellers who have learned their chants from the machine. The video created for the piece by Leo Lass visualises this social behaviour between the machine and musicians in an idolatrous way returning to the Hobmeier text which says:
The mathesis of myths.... a blueprint of our morals and inner states into society.... nothing has changed, murder and mayhem is still inside and outside of us... addressing these ancient sub currents inside of us, using ambivalence, unclairity, the esoteric, the so called symbolic, camouflaging under a layer of...Falling backwards into a night that knows no morning...A walk on empty paths... The hollow heavens, buzzing, with automata angels, the hallelujah drones... The shell is ready now..The percussion is registered by the computer which uses the amplitude peaks to trigger particular layers of the video being projected above the performers. Other layers of the video projection are being controlled by the two computer performers on stage. Using the same controllers used to perform the computer music score these triggers are all being sent to perform the videos rich environment cueing section by section.
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