Having both studied for a master’s at the RNCM, Sam Longbottom and Tanguy Pocquet are Manchester-based composers working together on installations exploring the automation of instrumental music performance.
Appearing at the 2022 festival as part of hcmf// shorts, they collaborated on a work exploring the automated playing of string instruments tuned in just intonation, in which a loop of fishing line is threaded through the strings, and drawn tight around pulleys secured to turntables. With the turntables switched on, the loop of fishing line rotates, bowing the strings. Unpredictable variations in timbre, rhythm, and texture arise with each new performance.
This repurposing of acoustic-instruments, and the exploration of unpredictability within automated systems, of unusual acoustic timbres and extraneous sounds produced by them, and of performative interaction with them, are at the heart of both composers’ shared practice. They were central to a later installation, using organ pipes retuned in just intonation to create elaborate drones, and focus-in on beating effects as pipes tuned in close proximity are isolated, or as the pressure of air supplied to them is altered.