Air in Slow Motion is a CSound composition that investigates the aesthetic potential of waveform modulation as both a sonic and visual medium. The work is structured around the rapid evolution of f-tables—function tables used in CSound for waveform generation—rendered in real time to produce a continuous audiovisual stream. This process results in a form of “waveform cinema,” where the internal logic of synthesis becomes the subject of both auditory and visual perception.
The audio is characterized by slow, evolving textures with a focus on low-frequency content and gradual spectral shifts. The pacing is intentionally restrained, and the dynamic range is narrow but expressive. These qualities mirror the conceptual premise: an imagined, slowed-down traversal of air through a trumpet. The piece does not aim to replicate acoustic behavior but to abstract it, using digital synthesis to evoke the internal dynamics of breath and resonance.
Conceptually, the work aligns with a broader inquiry into the materiality of sound and the performative nature of algorithmic composition. By treating the f-table as both a compositional and visual element, Air in Slow Motion challenges traditional distinctions between score, instrument, and performance. It contributes to ongoing discourse in computer music and audiovisual art by foregrounding the poetic potential of synthesis as a medium of speculative representation.
Air in Slow Motion is a piece about breath—about the invisible motion that gives rise to sound. I imagined what it might feel like to follow a single breath of air as it moves through a trumpet, but in slow motion, stretched out in time until every vibration becomes visible, every resonance audible.
I used CSound to create this work, focusing on the rapid modulation of f-tables. These tables shape the waveform, and when rendered in real time, they create a kind of visual music. The sound is low, slow, and constantly shifting. There’s no melody, no rhythm—just texture and motion. The dynamics are subtle, the pacing deliberate. It’s not about dramatic gestures, but about listening closely to what usually goes unnoticed.
This piece isn’t meant to simulate reality. It’s a poetic abstraction. The air doesn’t really move like this—but maybe, if we slow down enough, we can imagine that it does. For me, Air in Slow Motion is about making the invisible visible, and the inaudible audible. It’s about sound as a living, breathing thing.