Brian Tuohy

Brian Tuohy is an Irish sonic artist based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. With a background in computer science and music technology, Brian recently completed a Master of Arts program in sonic arts at the renowned Sonic Arts Research Centre at Queens University Belfast. His work has an interdisciplinary focus, which approaches art from the perspectives of electroacoustic sound design and interaction design for live performance systems. Aesthetically, Brians work concentrates on the subtleties that reside on the brink of microsound and minimal soundscape composition. For his MA dissertation, Brian focused on binaural soundscape work, which turned an ear to the banal elements that can often be overlooked in the study of modern acoustic ecology; sounds such as computer fans, hard-drives, and creaking ceilings. For his undergraduate thesis, Brian developed a live performance system for the delivery of algorithmically composed music, based on the sampling and analysis of live input from an electric guitar. At present, Brian is collaborating on sound design and spatialisation for a sound installation based on a 32 channel ambisonic system. Brian also recently established a fledgling sound art collective with university colleagues, working on electroacoustic music and sound art projects. Academically, he is continuing work on papers for submission to conferences on multiple topics, including: algorithmic composition and live performance systems; interaction design and augmented vocal instruments; computer-aided algorithmic composition. Brian is also currently developing a suite of performance and audio processing tools in Max/MSP to be shared online. This document provides background information for the three pieces put forward with this proposal.

http://www.tuohybrian.bandcamp.com http://www.scribd.com/tuohybrian tuohybrian@hotmail.com 0044 742 8189 890

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Gyre
This piece explores the use of several different sound design methods to create a diverse palette of sonic textures and colours from a single source recording. The initial audio is a recording of Brian reading The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats. This work defines itself primarily through pulsation: beating and repeated articulations. The piece builds toward the introduction of recognisable vocal sounds, which are integrated into the more abstract surrounding textures. As an abstract essay, the work layers both disparate textures and disparate tempi.

Dilatory Algotarli
Recorded using the Algotar system . All content is algorithmically composed based on live performance analysis. The system interprets the playing style of the performer by drawing a Markov chain representing the probabilities of certain note and rhythmic patterns. The notes being played back have been dynamically sampled from the performer's live input. The Algotar Project attempts to create a link between the areas of guitar-based popular music and computer-aided algorithmic composition. This is achieved by the use of a guitar-mounted iPod touch as a wireless control interface for an algorithmic composition application. By integrating the device into the guitarists performance, and taking advantage of techniques inherent in the existing playing style, a nonintrusive extension to the guitars system is achieved. This recording is the algorithmically composed content and contains no human-composed material. This is the sound of the system.

Hypnagogia (Binaural)
This composition places the listener in the center of a soundscape that would normally be regarded as mundane. Through the use of binaural recordings and artificial spatialisation, we experience the environment as though we were present adapting and becoming familiar with the sounds, and allowing the sonic imagery to develop and transform throughout the course of the piece. As we become more familiar with the environment, our focus begins to shift and we slowly experience the transition from a realistic, banal location to a complex and abstract sonic world. The location is a small domestic room. We are sat relatively stilly at a desk beside an open window. Interactions with the environment are sparse. The sounds we hear surround us; primarily originating from the street outside the room, with little sound emanating from within the direct vicinity of our person. The sonic elements are not spectacular; they are banal, commonly over-looked as background noise or not noticed at all. The sounds of the room are primarily mechanical and electronic: laptop fans, hard-drives, passing cars etc. This is perhaps the most challenging piece in this collection due to the endurance and concentration it requires. The piece is presented as a window, not a stage it provides a glimpse into the experience of residing within this particular environment. It is simply a sample taken from an open-ended storyboard. The intention of the piece is to very slowly introduce the listener to the environment and allow the sounds to transform without event or celebration. The implied experience is one that crosses the states of consciousness associated with wakefulness and sleep. This transition passes through the state known as hynpagogia a state of intense mental activity, which teeters on the threshold of consciousness.