Image descriptions/alt-text: A graphic and a text on a black background. A smoke-like graphic is located on the left. On the right is a text that reads, “ALVIN LUCIER” and “GENTLE FIRE.”
Gentle Fire: Jay Afrisando
2-channel fixed medium,
2022.
A co-production of Zeitgeist and 113 Composers Collective, the 2022 Early Music Festival explores the powerful contributions of musical pioneers with a celebration of composer Alvin Lucier. As part of the festival, Zeitgeist and 113 invited electronic sound artists to create realizations of Lucier’s work Gentle Fire, written for synthesizer operators/sound creators.
Gentle Fire involves taking the sound of something you find unpleasant (breaking windows, sinking ships, jackhammers, snoring) and using an electronic process/synthesizer to change those sounds into a sound you find pleasant or soothing (ocean waves, droning bees, birds). This process can take as long as you like, and you can use any process you wish. Lucier’s only instructions are that the two sounds be clearly heard, and the process be slow, gradual, and clearly heard.
Jay Afrisando’s Gentle Fire realization comprises the transformation of a subway passing by into a swarm of imaginary insects eating something woody collectively. He created the realization using granular synthesis on SuperCollider, coupled with simple editing (EQ, volume, reverb, duplication, and panning) on REAPER.
Visit this page to listen to all the sound artists’ Gentle Fire realizations.
Composer: Jay Afrisando