Action Potential I & II: Musicalizing the Electrical Signaling of Neurons
Keywords: Electroacoustic Composition, Recursive Neural Network, Max MSP, Csound, Musical Instrument
Awards:
“Action Potential I” was played at the 6th International Csound Conference in Athlone, Ireland (2022)
Program Note: 2 minutes and 32 seconds sound exploration inspired by the revolutionary work of Morton Subotnick. Through the use of an artificial neural network, the piece attempts to emulate the various voltage levels and complex textures involved in the electrical signaling of neurons. Structurally, it is divided into two main audible firings, several contrasting ‘failed initiations’, and instances of aperiodic amplitude and frequency modulation. The gestures and dynamics presented in the composition allude to Subotnick’s metaphor system proposed in “Until Spring” (1976), including:
thrusting out - repolarization
becoming - depolarization
being - action potential
Loud Audio, be careful!
Recursive Neural Network trained by mapping action potential graphs to amplitude and noise values. These can be sent to any VST3 rendered in Max MSP