sine-tone score follower

ongoing · in development · live-electronics system in Max/MSP, developed across (W)Edge, Idir chorp agus anam, Scaradh anama le corp, I mBéal na Toinne and Clapsholas na Maidine

The sine-tone score follower is a concept Ruaidhri Mannion has been developing since (W)Edge for piano trio and electronics, and has carried through Idir chorp agus anam, Scaradh anama le corp, I mBéal na Toinne and Clapsholas na Maidine. Gliding sine-tone voices are stepped through a cued score in Max, so that the electronics bend, swell and fade with the performers.

In Scaradh anama le corp (2024), four voices follow a saxophone quartet through 118 cues, one per bar, advanced by a MIDI foot pedal. Each cue sets a four-note chord, a glide time for every voice, an amplitude envelope and an amplitude-modulation rate. In 2026 the cue data was extracted from the concert patch and the system rebuilt as a lighter stereo version, a step towards a general tool for new works. The image is drawn from the Scaradh cue data.