Guarini Alumni Research Award Recipient 2021: Trevor Van de Velde, Digital Musics

You might take the electronic beep for granted. It's high pitched, alien, maybe even a little cute, maybe even a little annoying. It embodies the machine and yet, it is an entirely human-made sound. A simple piezo buzzer and a sine tone shaped the way in which analog machines sounded for decades, eventually bleeding into the digital technology. Well, what does technology sound like?

As a graduate student in the Digital Musics program, I am interested in these sonic ghost in the shells. My main research questions are: How has technology changed the way in which the world sounds? And maybe an even more important question: How can sound change technology?

Some of my earliest memories with operating a computer was in Elementary school typing class. There I played a variety of typing games that tested typing speed, and accuracy. Thinking back to it, these games had a similar logic to my piano lessons. Execution, finger positions, and accuracy were rewarded. Classical music embodies the same time of labor-reward gamification that my keyboard typing game has. This, and the matter of fact that both the instrument & computer peripheral share the same name, keyboard, had to have been no coincidence. The keyboard was the site of both gaming, labor, and sound production. The sonic fragments and digital beeps of gaming & classical music exist deep within my own subconscious. The Mario jump effect, pong sound, and the opening sequence of Claire de Lune seems to exist within the same memory space for me. They are simultaneously universal and yet extremely particular.

This project, titled slf-ctrl, is a video game that deconstructs the gaming genre as a form of cybernetic training. It's a piece that combines elements of game, play, and performance. It explores agency as both a performer and technological user. Throughout the performance, the player navigates a screen of instructions as a musical score. Various mini games occur throughout, requiring the player to complete them before continuing. These game and sonic references become distinct objects within a collection of digital cacophony.

Thanks to the generous support from the Dartmouth Alumni Research Award, I was able to attend the Summer Institute of Contemporary Performance Practice (SICPP) in Boston. This week-long summer festival was filled with masterclasses and lectures, hosted by internationally recognized composers and sound artists. It was there I was able to workshop and develop this project, in which I received guidance from faculty and peers. As a graduate student, the opportunity to share my work is remarkable and beautiful. Music is a shared experience and creating a space for people to listen is incredibly important. The resources provided by this grant have brought amazing insights into my own research and practice.