Iain McCurdy is a composer of electroacoustic music based in Belfast. His tape music and instrumental music has been performed throughout the British Isles, across Europe, and in North and South America and Australia.
On the site you will find information about many of his compositions including mp3 excerpts and programme notes.
There is also a catalogue of over two hundred example csound files. The purpose of these examples is to teach both Csound and general computer music principles. They make extensive use of FLTK graphical user interfaces to allow the user to explore the sounds produced without having to delve into the code. (Delving into the code is encouraged however!)
Pendulum by Iain McCurdy
Pendulum
The movement of a pendulum is tracked by a spiral of 64 sensors. When the pendulum passes above a sensor, a sound unique to that sensor is triggered. As the pendulum tracks to and fro, repeating sequences of notes are revealed, but these motifs are in a constant state of change. As the pendulum slows, the time gap between sound events lengthens (the sounds also become softer). As the range of the pendulum's movement decays, sound events are lost from the sequence but new sound events can also be gained as the circling movement of the pendulum contracts to include sensors closer to the centre of the spiral.
The sounds heard in this incarnation of the Pendulum are of a prepared classical guitar.
The movement of a pendulum is tracked by a spiral of 64 sensors. When the pendulum passes above a sensor, a sound unique to that sensor is triggered. As the pendulum tracks to and fro, repeating sequences of notes are revealed, but these motifs are in a constant state of change. As the pendulum slows, the time gap between sound events lengthens (the sounds also become softer). As the range of the pendulum's movement decays, sound events are lost from the sequence but new sound events can also be gained as the circling movement of the pendulum contracts to include sensors closer to the centre of the spiral.
The sounds heard in this incarnation of the Pendulum are of a prepared classical guitar.
