Raster.Labor

background

since the founding of our »artistic platform« in 1996, we have been working on musical concepts and concerts in the field of electronic music, as well as on installations that focus on spatial situations or combining various media such as light and sound. for this, the scenario of a group of artists with individually different approaches working under the same initial conditions proved particularly fruitful.

concept

an empty »laboratory table« (about 2 x 1 m) contains a minimal ensemble of 10 eurorack modules – embedded in the table–,which
basically generate control voltages, but at the same time can be manipulated and manipulate each other by means of these voltages.
these voltages thus form the starting point for the to-be-completed, interconnected range of objects provided
by the artists that fill the table and that together represent their experimental setup. a setup that ultimately creates a self-organizing and regenerating, endless sound composition. the setup will be completed with a pair of studio monitors.

the initial setup itself does not contain any sound-generating modules. The sound producing elements selected by the artist can be very large or microscopically small objects, they can produce sounds mechanically or generate or amplify these sounds electronically. the integration of microphones is possible, noise-producing artifacts can be integrated as well as real musical instruments.

due to the universal and modular concept (1 module = 1 function), the interested viewer/listener is able to directly understand the cause and effect. the integration of programming languages such as midi or computer-based programs should be avoided in this laboratory experiment. visualizing the function through cable paths and inviting the viewer/listener to experience the interconnections theirselves is the essential goal of this work.

the idea of automatically generating, self-regulating sound events and/or compositional techniques is a reference to the history of electronic music, which until around 1980 took mainly place in an academic environment, largely excluding the public. on the other hand, the use of control voltages is firmly anchored in synthesizer construction and opens up a very flexible, vivid field of sound experiments.