FLOATING SOUND GALLERY

Vienna

Georg Friedrich Volkert

Georg Friedrich Volkert has studied physics at TU Munich in 2006. After a PhD in mathematics and physics on the conceptual foundations of quantum physics he worked since 2012 in software projects related to the development process of digital information technologies. During 2017-2020 he was also Lecturer at the department of Engineering and Management of the University of Applied Sciences, Munich.

As an artistic audio programmer, he has been working with Max MSP and Supercollider on his own studies on algorithmic composition. In this context, he is particularly interested with the possibility of integrating programming languages such as Python or Java into the process of sound-artistic creation or extending it with these languages.

Currently he’s studying electroacoustic and experimental music at MDW Vienna since 2021. His interest is focused on the interdisciplinary research on hidden realities within the digital transformation from concrete to abstract sound (de-) compositions and vice versa.

https://soundcloud.com/gfvolkert

Diploma in physics at the Technical University Munich
PhD in mathematics at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich
PhD in physics at the University of Naples Federico II

Scientific works in the mathematical foundations of quantum physics within the development of a differential geometric approach to quantum non-locality.
> arxiv.org

Artistic works Studies on electroacoustic sound composition
> soundcloud

Co-initiator of an interdisciplinary project for the sonification of data in collaboration with Dr. Hammad Sheikh (New School for Social Research, New York and Centre for the Resolution of Intractable Conflicts, Oxford University)
> soundcloud

Studies on algorithmic sound composition based on modular arithmetic
> soundcloud

Release of the vinyl EP Elementar on Godot Club Recordings, Munich
> discogs

Composition of the soundtrack for the collage animated film Imperium, diploma thesis by Giovanna Valli (Academy of Fine Arts Munich) Mitinitiator des Kulturprojektes Godot Club für elektronische Klanggestaltung in München (Theatinerstr. 33)
> sub-bavaria

A Mercy of Peace, 06’
32 sound sources on a full-sphere in 7th order Ambisonics

The work is a granular synthesis (de-)composition of two choir recordings, which addresses the transformation of humans into machines and the question of the border crossing between the two as it occurs in the current biggest attack on a European country since the Second World War: If man becomes a machine at his limits, what happens to the machine when it reaches its limit?
"A Mercy of Peace and We Hymn Thee" is the title of Pavel Chesnokov's (Moscow, 1877-1944) Choral Concerto Op. 9 No. 10, which was tonally adapted on the Choral Concerto No. 23, Op. 23 by Artemy Vedel (Kiev, 1767-1808) for this question. The corresponding choral interpretations, sung by the PaTRAM Institute Male Choir and the Kiev Chamber Choir Камерний хор "Київ", were used as audio material for the granular sound (de)composition.
The technical clicks and noise artifacts were consciously considered as central part of the compositional strategy. They reflect not only the loop boundary of the audio source sample but also “the limits of the computing machine” used to realize this composition. Thus, with increasing computing grain density the human voices become literally overstepped tonally by the “voice of the machine”.

Each grain within the granular synthesis has been individually spatialized along distance, azimuth and elevation angle in an algorithmic approach using operations with different step sizes realized in Max MSP. While encoding the distance information in terms of the amplitude, IRCAM’s current Spat 5.3.1 version for the HOA encoding of 32 sound sources on a full-sphere into 7th order Ambisonics has been used.