Karlheinz Essl

Portrait

mælstrøm

sound performance for granular and modular synth
2024


Basics | Video | Performances


Kircher and others imagine
that in the centre of the channel of the Maelström
is an abyss penetrating the globe...
Edgar Allan Poe


Performed live at Bilkent University Ankara, Turkey
Portrait Concert Karlheinz Essl (22 Mar 2024)


About

The Maelström is a gigantic vortex in the North Sea, described by Edgar Allan Poe in his short story A Descent into the Maelström, published in 1841. Its power is so great that it can suck in even large ships and crush them to pulp.

For this piece, I created a hybrid instrument that combines digital granular synthesis with an analog modular synthesizer. It pulverizes sounds and recombines them into new sonic structures that can be controlled during a live performance. It is played on a laptop with a MIDI controller and a MakeNoise 0-COAST synthesizer at the same time.


maelstrom-GUI

User interface of mælstrøm
© 2024 by Karlheinz Essl


Video

Performed by Karlheinz Essl
8-channel sound projection by Otto Wanke
SoundChain - Portrait Karlheinz Essl
Brno, Divadlo na Orlí (CZ)
6 Feb 2025



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Updated: 8 Feb 2025

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