Tony Kemplen - Snap, crackle & pop

Program Notes

Snap, crackle & pop, a sound work for the butterfly installation instrument.

Snap crackle & pop is an immersive sound piece, designed to be deployed via a multi-channel sound system, the speakers being placed throughout the space in which the piece is played.  The resulting soundscape is made up of processed samples of noises made by popping and squeezing bubble-wrap. A variety of techniques, including time stretching, wave to midi and looping have been employed.

Ten discreet audio channels are delivered by 5 CD players and 5 stereo amplifiers, though fewer channels could be used if circumstances did not allow for the full ten. Each CD has five 10-minute tracks and for performance, the players are set on shuffle, such that 5 different 2 channel tracks are heard at any given time, every 10 minutes the tracks reshuffle and a new soundscape is formed. The number of possible permutations is immense, and it is unlikely that exactly the same soundscape would be heard twice.

Snap, crackle and pop was first shown as an installation at Bloc Space in Sheffield , and was funded by Arts council England .

A review can be seen on
http://www.sonicartsnetwork.org/diffusion/diffusion_14_04_04.htm#review