Nucleation is an interactive electro-acoustic piece for live performance, inspired by research into crystal nucleation at the University of Birmingham. As the instrumentalist plays, they interact with the sonification of a nucleation process (live or imagined) to create a soundscape unique to every performance.
Studio Recording (Pablo Sonnaillon, double bass; Tanguy Pocquet, sonification):
Nucleation was originally conceived to accompany The Nucleation Game, in which players compete against the clock to assemble a model crystal nucleus from 36 pieces. The music tracks the player’s progress in assembling the pieces in a real-life interactive soundtrack, somewhat analogous to video game music. In this case, quantifiable parameters, such as the number of pieces connected and the number of connections made, are translated to aspects of the sonification, such as the distortion and delay applied to the improvised motifs played by the instrumentalist. Qualitative observations, such as the beginning, middle and end of the assembly process, are translated into other musical aspects, such as the harmony and timbre by the instrumentalist and sonification. The end result is a piece of live music that is different every time, owing to the differences in the way different players play The Nucleation Game.
More information about Nucleation.
Nucleation was created and performed by Pablo Sonnaillon and Tanguy Pocquet. It was originally designed to be performed alongside The Nucleation Game, developed by Hamish Yeung, Keyuan Huang and Alice Walker at the University of Birmingham.
Nucleation was supported by the Royal Society of Chemistry Outreach Fund grant “The Crystallisation Game (with live music)”.
Yeung Research Group at UoB 