Playmodes: Recent Episodes
Playmodes
Playmodes is an audiovisual research collective. This is its sound repository. www.playmodes.com
You can also grab our Reaktor ensembles here: https://www.native-instruments.com/es/reaktor-community/reaktor-user-library/all/all/all/2324039/
Sonògraf. Concert at Guthmann Musical Instruments Competiton, with Lauren McCall by Playmodes
My personal notes after Peter Van Hoesen's DNB session at Mostra festival 2025 in Barcelona
soundtrack for the art+science installation "Thalastasi", a collaboration between Playmodes, Alba G. Corral, Shook Studio and Institut de Ciències del Mar in Barcelona
A soundtrack fully composed through image synthesis. The images are created using custom algorithms that generate synthetic spectrograms, which are afterwards sonified. +info here: https://www.playmodes.com/home/espectres/
An experimental generative composition using physical modelling instruments, for noir movies of the 1950's.
A generative music piece. Unattended and unedited recording of 8 minutes of the machine's performance.
Unattended recording of a generative system. Recursive freeze and morphing of rich sound spectra pairs.
An unattended recording of a procedural rhythmic system composed with c++ and supercollider
A generative system of randomly 12TET tuned sound generators going through an infinite reverb
“FORMS – String Quartet” is a live multimedia performance for string quartet, electronic music and panoramic visuals, based on the concept of “graphic sonification”.The musicians interpret a series of graphic scores that in turn build up the visual scenography, offering the audience the experience of being able to anticipate the “music to come”.These scores, together with the spectrograms that make up the electronic accompaniment of the piece, have been previously created using generative graphics algorithms.
Music vanishes.Time, which makes it possible, is also the one erasing it. It survives in an instant and disappears, perhaps leaving an imprint on our memory. We try to fix its memory through sheet music, notes or recordings, but the result is always the same: the music escapes us, like water between our fingers."Contorns", for flute, clarinet, sax and electronics, is a new attempt to freeze the imprint of music through graphic notation. Spectral landscapes that outline the expressive contours of instruments and that, during a small window of time, allow us to intuit future listening.Composed through algorithmic and generative processes, the score is inspired by the musicalization of geological processes. Mud, sediments, crystallization and dust as ingredients of a music that serves as a microscopic atlas for phenomena on a superhuman time scale.The concert, along the lines of the works in the FORMS series, is conceived as an audiovisual staging that gives full prominence to the graphic score. The performers, integrated into this video-projected landscape of visual music, transform the geometric contours into sound contours.Fluctuations in atmospheric pressure that, measured and plotted on a histogram, would again result in the same score.Contorns is a commission from the "Diffraccions" cycle, and was originally written for the CrossingLines Ensemble.
recording of the ppff installation output. ppff is an audiovisual installation where a player piano transforms generative graphic scores into piano music
initial explorations with supercollider for the signes installation. Multichannel (13x) instrument
Soundtrack for an immersive experience based on romanesque painting at Museu Episcopal de Vic https://entradas.codetickets.com/entradas/avui-fa-mil-anys_2269/museu-art-medieval/online
Soundtrack for a light and sound installation. The original is a 68 channel work. All sound is driven by pixel analysis and image signification algorithms
A soundtrack for a 360 videoprojection installation made by Burzon+Comenge and held at IDEAL Barcelona.
A recording of a generative music system based on a free interpretation of the harmonic rules of the Bela Bartok Axis system
A rendering of a realtime generative system based on the 12 tone row matrix rules developed by the atonal composers after Arnold Schönberg.
Developed in MAX/MSP, which sends MIDI signals to sampler libraries. The idea, though, is to sediment this into a readable score and have it interpreted by humans.
This composition could go on and on forever, but was stoped after 4minutes of recording.
Work in progress for a long term installation featuring real-time generated light and sound. These are the first outputs of the generative music system
Work in progress for a long term installation featuring real-time generated light and sound. These are the first outputs of the generative music system
Work in progress for a long term installation featuring real-time generated light and sound. These are the first outputs of the generative music system
Work in progress for a long term installation featuring real-time generated light and sound. These are the first outputs of the generative music system
Work in progress for a long term installation featuring real-time generated light and sound. These are the first outputs of the generative music system
Work in progress for a long term installation featuring real-time generated light and sound. These are the first outputs of the generative music system
Work in progress for a long term installation featuring real-time generated light and sound. These are the first outputs of the generative music system
Work in progress for a long term installation featuring real-time generated light and sound. These are the first outputs of the generative music system
Work in progress for a long term installation featuring real-time generated light and sound. These are the first outputs of the generative music system
Work in progress for a long term installation featuring real-time generated light and sound. These are the first outputs of the generative music system
Work in progress for a long term installation featuring real-time generated light and sound. These are the first outputs of the generative music system
VEUS is a live performance mixing electronics, a choir and visual scenography. Its 3 movements evolve around the idea of human communication and misscomunication. The first movement, "Babel", represents the impossibilty of dialogue as a criticism to individualism in the era of cognitive capitalism. On the second movement, "Discord", polarization between 2 groups leds to conflict and rage. On the final movement, "Agreement", represents a harmonic understanding of the group, but keeping every single personal identity.
VEUS is a project developed by Playmodes in collaboration with ESMUC (Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya)
VEUS is a live performance mixing electronics, a choir and visual scenography. Its 3 movements evolve around the idea of human communication and misscomunication. The first movement, "Babel", represents the impossibilty of dialogue as a criticism to individualism in the era of cognitive capitalism. On the second movement, "Discord", polarization between 2 groups leds to conflict and rage. On the final movement, "Agreement", represents a harmonic understanding of the group, but keeping every single personal identity.
VEUS is a project developed by Playmodes in collaboration with ESMUC (Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya)
VEUS is a live performance mixing electronics, a choir and visual scenography. Its 3 movements evolve around the idea of human communication and misscomunication. The first movement, "Babel", represents the impossibilty of dialogue as a criticism to individualism in the era of cognitive capitalism. On the second movement, "Discord", polarization between 2 groups leds to conflict and rage. On the final movement, "Agreement", represents a harmonic understanding of the group, but keeping every single personal identity.
VEUS is a project developed by Playmodes in collaboration with ESMUC (Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya)
A recording of a set of generative soundtracks for a VR experience recreating the middle age ambience of the Pedralbes monastery in Barcelona. Most of the tracks are composed by a minimal number of short loops which are being volume modulated by brownian functions. Several chance operations are applied to MIDI notes triggering synthesized instruments.
A recording of a set of generative soundtracks for a VR experience recreating the middle age ambience of the Pedralbes monastery in Barcelona. Most of the tracks are composed by a minimal number of short loops which are being volume modulated by brownian functions. Several chance operations are applied to MIDI notes triggering synthesized instruments.
A recording of a set of generative soundtracks for a VR experience recreating the middle age ambience of the Pedralbes monastery in Barcelona. Most of the tracks are composed by a minimal number of short loops which are being volume modulated by brownian functions. Several chance operations are applied to MIDI notes triggering synthesized instruments.
A recording of a set of generative soundtracks for a VR experience recreating the middle age ambience of the Pedralbes monastery in Barcelona. Most of the tracks are composed by a minimal number of short loops which are being volume modulated by brownian functions. Several chance operations are applied to MIDI notes triggering synthesized instruments.
a stack of musical pieces based on algorithms instead of fixed scores. All pieces are composed using our own tools, and played through self-made digital synthesizers.
A soundtrack for a heritage projection mapping. Featured in a permanent installation at the romanesque church of Santa Coloma d'Andorra
The last piece of the "Voces" soundtrack, featuring Alicia Acuña and Negro Jari.
The installation is an exploration about city models, urban and cultural politics, as told by its inhabitants. A dialogue between the participants, augmented by dynamic lighting of the architecture and immersive sound.
Featuring the voices of Alicia Acuña, Charo Ledo, Ellavled Alcano, Helliot Baeza, Miguel Rosa, Negro Jari and Sebastián Chávez.
Concept and AV contents: Playmodes Studio Camera: Omar Álvarez Casting and production: ZEMOS98 Production assistant: José Ángel Jiménez Acknowledgements: José Luis Tirado (ZAP Producciones), Danza Mobile y Domingo López.
Realtime algorithmic soundscapes, recorded from a Espills performance. Check the project here: http://www.playmodes.com/home/espills/
A soundtrack for "Voces", an audiovisual immersive installation held at Real Fabrica de Artilleria of Sevilla, in Spain. The installation is an exploration about city models, urban and cultural politics, as told by its inhabitants. A dialogue between the participants, augmented by dynamic lighting of the architecture and immersive sound.
Lux Mundi. A soundtrack for electronics and string quartet.
An edited recording of a rehearsal in Manresas's Col·legiata Basílica de Santa Maria, mixed with the electronica.
www.playmodes.com/home/lux-mundi/
Violin : Cèlia Johé Viola : Pepi Izquierdo Cello: Queralt Garcia & Mariona Tuset Contrabass : Iu Boixader
Score: Santi Vilanova
An edited (and not very good) recording of a rehearsal. The 6 pieces are fragments of the music composed for the show Lux Mundi:
http://www.playmodes.com/home/lux-mundi/
Some rhythm quantization edits have been made. Panned, mixed and eq'd at home.
An edited (and not very good) recording of a rehearsal. The 6 pieces are fragments of the music composed for the show Lux Mundi:
http://www.playmodes.com/home/lux-mundi/
Some rhythm quantization edits have been made. Panned, mixed and eq'd at home.
An edited (and not very good) recording of a rehearsal. The 6 pieces are fragments of the music composed for the show Lux Mundi:
http://www.playmodes.com/home/lux-mundi/
Some rhythm quantization edits have been made. Panned, mixed and eq'd at home.
An edited (and not very good) recording of a rehearsal. The 6 pieces are fragments of the music composed for the show Lux Mundi:
http://www.playmodes.com/home/lux-mundi/
Some rhythm quantization edits have been made. Panned, mixed and eq'd at home.
An edited (and not very good) recording of a rehearsal. The 6 pieces are fragments of the music composed for the show Lux Mundi:
http://www.playmodes.com/home/lux-mundi/
Some rhythm quantization edits have been made. Panned, mixed and eq'd at home.
An edited (and not very good) recording of a rehearsal. The 6 pieces are fragments of the music composed for the show Lux Mundi:
http://www.playmodes.com/home/lux-mundi/
Some rhythm quantization edits have been made. Panned, mixed and eq'd at home.
Another generative sample. This time, the same parameters for rhythm generation than "a Kind of Magic", but a harmonic progression based on chains of probability. You can follow the discussion about it here: https://www.native-instruments.com/forum/threads/weighted-probability.337353/
This is an extended version of a fragment present in our Cluster installation: http://www.playmodes.com/home/cluster-d4n/
A recording of the Parabòlic audiovisual show soundtrack, performed automatically (through a MIDI system) on the Gaudi's "Palau Güell" Organ (1.bp.blogspot.com/-uq1dztVh9SM/UxW…-palau-guell.jpg)
Conceived as a work of architectural sonification and visual music, the composition is structured into 5 movements (formation, entropy, order and meaning). Many of the sequences, motifs and rhythms are generated through the use of a self-made algorithmic composition software, developed specially for the instrument: https://www.native-instruments.com/en/reaktor-community/reaktor-user-library/entry/show/11057/
In order to achieve this result, it has been crutial the collaboration with the organ builder, Albert Blancafort (www.orguesblancafort.com/), to fully understand the limits and potential of such an instrument.
This recording is a multilayered edition, mixing 2 different mic positionings: one inside of the organ, and another one from the outside.
An output from the ongoing research software for algorithmic composition. MIDI notes are generated through sets of harmonic and rhythmic rules, which include probabilistic models. These notes are then used to feed a synthesizer.
some of the individual tracks for the cluster installation present at Day for Night Festival, Houston in December 2017
some of the individual tracks for the cluster installation present at Day for Night Festival, Houston in December 2017
A stereo mixdown of the soundtrack for the "Cluster" light and sound installation. Original soundtrack is 8 channel, therefore some content may sound weird in the stereo mixdown...
a stereo downmix of a 16 channel audio soundtrack for Prague's Signal Festival. Premiered on October 2017
The full soundtrack for playmodes' installation in the Chartres en Lumiere light festival
Another soundtrack for a light and sound installation. It represents a sunset in the wood.
A recording of the Parabòlic audiovisual show soundtrack, performed automatically (through a MIDI system) on the Gaudi's "Palau Güell" Organ (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uq1dztVh9SM/UxWX5yKCTbI/AAAAAAAAHlI/UVUQdWg7xwo/s1600/orgue-palau-guell.jpg)
Conceived as a work of architectural sonification, as well as visual music, the composition is structured into 5 movements (formation, entropy, order and meaning)
In order to achieve this result, it has been crutial the collaboration with the organ builder, Albert Blancafort (http://www.orguesblancafort.com/), to fully understand the limits and potential of such an instrument.
A recording of a performance in the Pipe Organ at Barcelona's Palau Güell. The track is a fragment of a larger piece to be premiered on September 2017, as part of an audiovisual show which will consist in a large video-projection over the Antoni Gaudiís parabolic dome, accompanied by the pipe organ soundtrack. Music has been made specifically for this organ, and it is the result of a large research process about algorithmic composition and MIDI control of te organ.
A selection of some of the noise scenes generated algorithmically for the "Cluster" light and sound installation. Sound is generated by analising pixels in a video, and transforming pixel luminance into amplitude of partials, or frequency of a band-pass filter bank applied to white noise.
Final piece for a projection mapping in a heritage site in Barcelona. An electronica base with some sax and guitar recordings by Gerard and Edu
A collection of simple algorithmic music experiments created with a self-made software tool. It explores harmonic motion based triggering of notes, and modal harmony mapping and sequencing of pitches. Just 1 instrumental layer is involved in each composition. By the moment, these are just studies, but will evolve into something serious in the future.
A collection of simple algorithmic music experiments created with a self-made software tool. It explores harmonic motion based triggering of notes, and modal harmony mapping and sequencing of pitches. Just 1 instrumental layer is involved in each composition. By the moment, these are just studies, but will evolve into something serious in the future.
A collection of simple algorithmic music experiments created with a self-made software tool. It explores harmonic motion based triggering of notes, and modal harmony mapping and sequencing of pitches. Just 1 instrumental layer is involved in each composition. By the moment, these are just studies, but will evolve into something serious in the future.
Another tune for a light and sound show. This one represents contrast between light and dark, warm and cold, spring and winter.
A sonic collage on modern architecture, featuring sound from architect conferences and sound metaphors illustrating the winners of the 2015 Mies Van der Rohe architecure award. http://www.miesarch.com/
A Soundtrack for this installation: https://vimeo.com/139817455 Originally an 8 channel piece.
another one for the ZKM mapping commission. This is a sonification of a 3d physics simulation which makes the to wave. The digital noise bursts represent a stroboscopic animation of ancient engravings
More audiovisual related stuff... this one is also for the ZKM commission on the Karlsruhe castle. Cellos are played by Magam: https://soundcloud.com/vegamon