Sustained Contour
A score about the moment when the pluck ends, but the string is not yet ready to fall silent.
Strings and breath gradually exchange roles. NACRE begins with separate attacks and becomes a sustained field. AER enters on a long note, then divides the breath into short phrases. The electronics emphasize the exchange while keeping the acoustic beginnings distinct.
Two performers and a sound operator.
Nina Vetrova — performance editing; Ivan Salamin — sound assembly; Adelheid Von Fliegen — acoustic loop.
How the ensemble connects.
NACRE’s excitation stays within its local loop. A separate audio copy feeds the recorder and a low-level MODEFIELD layer. AER’s microphone is recorded independently. Through SOMATIC, breath pressure moves REGOLITH’s playback position between the attack and decay of a prerecorded NACRE pluck, changing the electronic timbre. Processed channels do not return to the coils.
Sparse NACRE plucks decay naturally. AER answers with a single note only after silence. Electronic layers remain off so the listener can learn each instrument’s attack and breath.
NACRE’s excitation gradually sustains two reference notes. AER’s breath moves playback between the attack and decay of the string recording, changing the color of a sparse granular cloud. MODEFIELD stays at a low level, adding only selected resonances.
New grains stop first, followed by the modal layer and a reduction in string excitation. AER’s final phrase is entirely acoustic and ends with the breath.
What to listen for
Distinguish the physically sustained string, the live air-driven note, and playback of previously recorded material. Damping NACRE changes its acoustic loop immediately; digital grains already triggered complete their own envelopes.
What we preserve after the session
Save both dry instrument channels, separate processing branches, NACRE’s tuning and loop parameters, the REGOLITH source file, and AER’s pressure map. Pauses may vary in length: this is a performance plan, not a fixed track.