VVAXX + baransu turn computer programming into an experimental audiovisual album

automaton variations is an audiovisual album that transcends the boundaries of art, technology, and music. the work is a collaboration between experimental composer VVAXX and audiovisual duo baransu. VVAXX generated the sounds while baransu designed and programmed the visual project of the album. the album celebrates the creativity in coding and elevates computer programming as an artistic expression.

images and videos courtesy of umanesimo artificiale

inspired by everyday noise and glitch sound signals, sound artist VVAXX reinterprets the world around him to create experimental music compositions and live recordings. for automaton variations, all sounds are generated with the automatonism software in pure data. the main concept of the album and the composition process of the artist is to limit himself to use only basic waveforms: sine wave, triangle wave, sawtooth wave, square wave (plus drum machines).

for the production, VVAXX explores the technique of the automaton, algorithmic composition, modular synthesis, real-time processing, live looping, granular synthesis and generative art. faithful to the purity of the minimalism philosophy, the composition is stripped of any superfluous decoration and effect, in its search for essentiality and algorithmic efficiency.

making the modulation of simple sound forms visually perceptible, in the most analytical and precise way possible, is the starting point for understanding automaton variations. more than a subjective or synaesthetic representation, the GUI – designed with the software touchdesigner – aims to make the essential computational sound parameters visible in real time, revealing the elements of the structure and enhancing the intrinsic beauty of the parametric algorithm composition through generative patterns produced by the sound intensity as a function of time. you can explore the audiovisual album in full on umanesimo artificiale’s website here. 

project info:

project name: automaton variations

composition: VVAXX

software: puredata

computer graphics: baransu

software: touchdesigner

produced by: umanesimo artificiale

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynne myers | designboom