Harmonicity Dissolving Into the Outside Field: The Secondary Rainbow Synthesizer in Catherine Lamb's Prisma Interius IX

Jenkins, Noah Fletcher

doi:https://doi.org/10.21985/n2-2rs6-qh28

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Harmonicity Dissolving Into the Outside Field: The Secondary Rainbow Synthesizer in Catherine Lamb's Prisma Interius IX

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This paper discusses the role of the Secondary Rainbow Synthesizer in Catherine Lamb’s composition Prisma Interius IX. This instrument is a MIDI keyboard that controls a computer program consisting of a bank of resonant band-pass filters, which are tuned to specific frequencies and can be opened or closed to varying degrees. These filters process live audio from a stereo pair of microphones placed outside the space in which the piece is being performed. The resulting situation is that of a live feed of a soundscape being manipulated in real time in such a way that some of its specific frequency components are emphasized, allowing the sound of the external environment to be perceived as another instrument in the ensemble of acoustic instruments playing sustained pitched tones. The paper explores connections between the synthesizer and Lamb’s influences and inspirations including human perception of sound, Indian Carnatic music, and the work of composers and sound artists including Maryanne Amacher, Michael Pisaro, and Gérard Grisey

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