Shelter Press / GRM Portrait
Entirely computer-generated, Manifolds is a work that explores the multiple possibilities of polyphonic writing, extending it to the “multiphonic” universe where sources and timbres diffract themselves in the listening space. The different voices of the composition no longer follow the traditional parallel trajectories of musical dialogue, but find themselves propelled as if into a particle accelerator, a “collider” freed from all formal rhetoric to reach a state of liberation of energies that is truly confounding. It is then that, in the multi-layered universe of sonic electrons, as if against its own will, a “chant” of overwhelming humanity is revealed.
— François J. Bonnet, 2023
»Manifolds« exemplifies Jessica Ekomane’s ongoing investigation of the perception of rhythmic structures, the interchange of noise and melody, the relationship between individual perception and collective dynamics, and the societal roots of listening. In this work, Ekomane uses a laptop equipped with Max/MSP for the composition and Ableton Live for multichannel live spatialized diffusion using GRM’s acousmonium. While the composer-performer maintains that the tuning in this work is applied to four voices only, the sonic results exhibit far more complexity.
The first section of the work, with its festive, celebratory quality of unpredictable dance, features highly intense layers of folded conversational sound that offer a relentless effect. This texture gradually gives way to a more measured, stately polyphony of orchestral intensity, algorithmically generated within and around a Malawian equiheptatonic tonal system. The third and fourth sections of the piece find a different way to use the Malawian tonal resources.
At one prominent moment, the work’s sonic behavior becomes reminiscent of early analog sample-and-hold synthesizer modules. The conclusion of the piece presents an open-ended invitation rather than closure. For this audacious and intricate work, the jury of the Giga-Hertz Prize 2023 awards Jessica Ekomane a Production Award.
— George Lewis, 2023
Credits
Composed & produced by Jessica Ekomane
Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi
Photo by Camille Blake
Sleeve design by Stephen O’Malley
Listen / Buy
Bandcamp
Boomkat
Selected Press
Bandcamp
Wire
Awards
Coup de coeur de l’Académie Cros 2024
Giga-Hertz Prize 2023
Released 1 March 2024