https://mattideegan.com Matt I Deegan Fri, 31 May 2024 10:08:32 +0000 https://mattideegan.com en https://mattideegan.com/Front-page Fri, 31 May 2024 09:35:51 +0000 Matt I Deegan https://mattideegan.com/Front-page Matt Mono | EP Smith<img width="1716" height="1254" width_o="1716" height_o="1254" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/81990ba727a229b6023e032cc95ea757e5bdc3303ce00e675626018f67823aed/EPSmith_Double_Headshot.png" data-mid="212062928" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/81990ba727a229b6023e032cc95ea757e5bdc3303ce00e675626018f67823aed/EPSmith_Double_Headshot.png" /> Matt Deegan is an interactive sound artist working as Matt Mono and EP Smith. Matt Mono focuses on interactive and adaptive sound, whereas EP Smith focuses on modern electronic composition, techno, and live electronic performance. Matt is also an educator, working as a university lecturer in the field of games design. He is currently completing his PhD in sound and music, with a focus on interactive and adaptive nonlinear time. Matt Mono As an interactive sound artist.&nbsp;Explore the following projects. MachinesQuantum WindowSheets of SoundGravitational PullUndergroundBouncing BallBeforeRock Formation &amp; RepeatMoth &amp; Butterfly EP Smith Producing modern electronic composition.&nbsp;Explore the following projects. Soundtrack to a Silent Film Releases Live Techno Project 52Blink Twice and TWISNeverending Album ‘Epistrophe’ EP Smith understands electronic music. He gets it and invites the listener to understand too. His music is described as techno with an undercurrent of jazz, and his style fuses live improvisation with electronics. He establishes delicate rhythms with pulsing beats and kicks, mixing samples with synthesised and live beats with building rhythms that evolve in waves; audial worlds with musical stories accompanying the listener as their narratives merge and we are left realising we have entered new realms, where the musical genre has evolved and now our bodies are seeking to move in a different way. EP Smith’s music tempts listeners with glimpses of techno, jazz, house and electronica, seamlessly appearing as characters in his story and teasing us with what may be ahead. Reminiscent of the early vapourwave scene in terms of composition, yet abandoning the aesthetic and Japanese character-orientated aesthetics, EP’s creations seek to find a place in the new post-capitalist exploration of modern music, rather than challenge the production values of main-stream dance music. The rhythmical soundscapes beckon the listener rather than confronting them with glitch and switch; and this softer, richer, more progressive exploration of digital music making is clearly inviting audiences to explore with the music as opposed to being dictated to. This electronic music is alive with ambition. It wants to take you on a journey and play; and that's what it does - with infectious curiosity and a deft fusion of samples, live beats and buckets of creativity. <img width="3504" height="2336" width_o="3504" height_o="2336" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/363d4b0d40a96934e944499a96490a6204f6e1fa917df20dcd86a2e72b7d4ff2/_MG_0191.JPG" data-mid="212145621" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/363d4b0d40a96934e944499a96490a6204f6e1fa917df20dcd86a2e72b7d4ff2/_MG_0191.JPG" /> <img width="720" height="528" width_o="720" height_o="528" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9798b804cc496e4d7a76b5dae801687f7fa53c4e8dc5d9985e0ce4f0cbaaec4d/EpistropheSmith-live.jpg" data-mid="212145656" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/720/i/9798b804cc496e4d7a76b5dae801687f7fa53c4e8dc5d9985e0ce4f0cbaaec4d/EpistropheSmith-live.jpg" /> <img width="1154" height="1732" width_o="1154" height_o="1732" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/460b0729bad7c6311b6e884c95c24721fa49f75c0be15586a3b990f6ff7ae5d3/EP-Smith-portrait3.jpg" data-mid="212145657" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/460b0729bad7c6311b6e884c95c24721fa49f75c0be15586a3b990f6ff7ae5d3/EP-Smith-portrait3.jpg" /> <img width="2336" height="3504" width_o="2336" height_o="3504" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5a8d59660b2883366153cc0dec0b31336437e677144b4e3f00869347b481a8e7/_MG_7344.JPG" data-mid="212145667" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5a8d59660b2883366153cc0dec0b31336437e677144b4e3f00869347b481a8e7/_MG_7344.JPG" /> <img width="2336" height="3504" width_o="2336" height_o="3504" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5201d5292a0111fd1e34d3f11ef30b5b96d8c25fa2ea15e04e0b80402b131814/_MG_7544.JPG" data-mid="212145634" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5201d5292a0111fd1e34d3f11ef30b5b96d8c25fa2ea15e04e0b80402b131814/_MG_7544.JPG" /> <img width="3056" height="1937" width_o="3056" height_o="1937" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e81d2c0d320090e0a416773a033960ca220d919c05385acad4251ac00fcea3cf/EP-Smith-Hot-Pot-Cinema-2.jpg" data-mid="212145639" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e81d2c0d320090e0a416773a033960ca220d919c05385acad4251ac00fcea3cf/EP-Smith-Hot-Pot-Cinema-2.jpg" /> https://mattideegan.com/Machines Fri, 31 May 2024 09:35:52 +0000 Matt I Deegan https://mattideegan.com/Machines The Machines The Machines is a single-player interactive desktop experience demonstrating techniques in electronic music/audio programming within UE5 using MetaSounds Audio Engine. The focus is on nonlinearity and is designed primarily as an audio experience. The player explores three distinct spaces, each focused on an aspect of sound design and electronic music composition. There is no objective as such, except to explore the three spaces: each space offering a different interactive experience. Each sound interaction sphere is unique and spawned randomly within the space (both horizontally and vertically). Some can be picked up by the player and moved around the space to change parameters or moved towards each other to create layers of sound, leading to an endless stream of music, shaped by the player. The finished version of The Machines The Machines in development in Nov 2022 Matt Mono 2023 https://mattideegan.com/Through-a-Quantum-Window Fri, 31 May 2024 09:35:52 +0000 Matt I Deegan https://mattideegan.com/Through-a-Quantum-Window Through a Quantum Window An adaptive extended play electronic music app using Unreal Engine 5 MetaSounds Audio Engine. The app uses local time and date data (GMT) to determine how the music sounds. The EP is a continuous piece of music, divided into four music compositions, the names and themes loosely based on ideas from quantum mechanics: Ether, Expansion, Contraction, and Collapse. The time and date data affect the output of the music, creating a unique listening experience each time the app is played. Matt Mono 2023 https://mattideegan.com/Sheets-of-Sound-2 Fri, 31 May 2024 09:35:53 +0000 Matt I Deegan https://mattideegan.com/Sheets-of-Sound-2 Sheets of Sound Sheets of Sound is a piece in both vertical time and moment form. The sound palette is made up of 64 individual moments laid out in an 8X8 grid. Each moment seamlessly loops with varying textures and timbres. The moments overlap and with careful control by the player effective transitions between moments can be achieved. Created within UE4 and augmented reality, the player uses a mobile phone to conduct the sounds, wearing a set of headphones as a listening device. A multicoloured sheet of particles accompany each sound as a visual aid and reference point to the sound’s location. The player starts in the same location each time and is welcome to move in any direction at any speed. There is no time limit on the piece and no boundaries as such. If the player moves outside of the grid no sound will be heard, however this can be part of the experience to include portions of silence in the piece. Spatialization is used to great affect and a small turn of the smartphone can change the sound between left and right speakers, or mix seamlessly between two pieces of music. Alternatively spend a while absorbed fully within one sound, without movement, without time. Matt Mono 2023 https://mattideegan.com/Gravitational-Pull-2 Fri, 31 May 2024 09:35:53 +0000 Matt I Deegan https://mattideegan.com/Gravitational-Pull-2 Gravitational Pull This piece explores nonlinear time by harnessing the power of Unreal Engine and augmented reality. Based on a central focal point; which, on approach speeds up the tempo of the music, changes the harmony, melody and a multitude of effects. The user (player) controls the piece simply through an app and moving a smartphone held in front of them, anywhere within the designated radius; using a pair of headphones to become immersed in the auditory landscape. There is no prescribed path or time limit so the player can choose their preferred route, conducting the music as they move. This work is the beginning of a full exploration to gain insights into nonlinear time through Unreal Engine. It utilises the built in synthesis, alongside the real-time manipulation of audio loops. Matt Mono 2023 https://mattideegan.com/Underground Fri, 31 May 2024 09:35:54 +0000 Matt I Deegan https://mattideegan.com/Underground Underground An adaptive music app using Unreal Engine 5 and MetaSounds Audio Engine. The piece is composed using the nonlinear music composition technique - modules Matt Mono 2023 https://mattideegan.com/Bouncing-Ball Fri, 31 May 2024 09:35:54 +0000 Matt I Deegan https://mattideegan.com/Bouncing-Ball Bouncing Ball This idea operates without a fixed form, the only given, is the initial release of the balls when the piece begins. The piece resets randomly anywhere between 1 and 30 seconds without pause (other than the time it takes for the balls to fall to the ground after reset). Within predetermined constraints, the white ball is designed to bounce at a random trajectory and disrupt the blue 'trigger' balls. The blue trigger balls are loaded with a handful of samples which get chosen at random. Overall, the blue trigger balls operate identically to each other (by triggering one of their loaded samples each time they collide with the floor). However, some of the samples chosen are individual hits and some are a series of notes, which can lead to overlapping sounds, building up thick textural layers. This piece lacks space, and instead unashamedly produces a chaotic sonic experience with each sound element working independently. However, due to the sonic palette and chosen style of music, the five chaotic independent parts somehow fit together to create a single unified piece. From my standpoint the work offers a distorted glimpse at nomadism within music. There is no flinching or stiffening as the samples are triggered, the machine-driven piece is unapologetic and is simply doing what has been programmed. Matt Mono 2023 https://mattideegan.com/Before Fri, 31 May 2024 09:35:55 +0000 Matt I Deegan https://mattideegan.com/Before Before An experimental demo using Unreal Engine 4 and FMOD to look at user influence shaping the music. The idea for this piece came from the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing in 2019. I wondered what about the mission before? The user can choose between eight different radio messages from the Apollo 10 mission. The radio messages are from the nasa.gov website.Matt Mono 2023&nbsp; https://mattideegan.com/Rock-Formation-Repeat Fri, 31 May 2024 09:35:55 +0000 Matt I Deegan https://mattideegan.com/Rock-Formation-Repeat Rock Formation A composition written in vertical time - no movement forward, no movement backwards, only the present. Matt Mono 2021 Repeat Repeat uses a granular sampler and a drum machine to produce this vertical time composition. Matt Mono 2021 https://mattideegan.com/Blink-Twice-TWIS Fri, 31 May 2024 10:08:32 +0000 Matt I Deegan https://mattideegan.com/Blink-Twice-TWIS Blink Twice EP Smith uses live electronics hooked up to the Twitter stream to create ‘Blink Twice’ a unique piece of improvised electronic music, performed live in Bristol University at the BULO spring concert Using Python programming language and Live OSC with Ableton Live EP Smith’s code listens to Twitter. As the stream of Tweets flow through Twitter particular keywords trigger samples in Ableton Live. The main melody you’re hearing is being played by people sending Tweets on Twitter (they are unaware their Tweets are doing this). The keywords the code listens for is streaming in the background on the large screen in the video. As well as the code playing the melody, Twitter is speeding up and slowing down the music. Interestingly this was a lunchtime concert (13:00 GMT), but all the rehearsals were done in the evening. This had a great impact on the piece as there wasn’t as much activity when the actual performance took place so the track didn’t speed up and slow down as expected. EP Smith 2016 That's What I Said EP Smith uses live electronics hooked up to the Twitter stream to create this second piece ‘That's What I Said’ a unique piece of improvised electronic music, performed live in Bristol University at the BULO spring concert. This track starts with audience participation as audience members start the loops off. At 1:43 you'll notice the data stream speeds up as he changes the code used and streams all of Twitter. As the stream of Tweets flow through Twitter particular keywords trigger samples in Ableton Live. The main melody you’re hearing is being played by people sending Tweets on Twitter (they are unaware their Tweets are doing this). The keywords the code listens for is streaming in the background on the large screen in the video. EP Smith 2016