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  Glenna Batson and I have offered a series of workshops where folds were investigated in depth and breadth using physical movement and soundscapes. I have written about the sound experiments in three blog posts linked here: (https://wp.me/p5yJTY-c9) (https://wp.me/p5yJTY-cy) (https://wp.me/p5yJTY-gi) The soundscapes in this portfolio evolved from these workshops.
  
  How does sound fold and unfold? Sound is oscillating air, so the very form of sound involves folds. From there we have tonal and rhythmic gestures such as rising and falling, overlapping, and reaching back - all actions associated with folds and which can be orchestrated musically. One technique is the use of overlapping melodic lines that reach out from and come back to a central tone. On the page, one can see how the melodies fold and unfold notationally. Percussive sounds define the edges of a fold. Repetition is a formal quality of folds. Two types of audio folds that have emerged as formal structures are an echo, where the sound comes back on itself like two halves of a folded sheet, and a spiral, where the feeling of the sonic movement is a perpetual reaching towards the fold, but never completing it.  Folds require a doubling back that is repetitive and ever changing.

  
  With these gestures in mind, here are the track notes for Audiorigami: Meditations on The Fold
  
  First Folds is in two parts and accompanies Glenna's meditations on the primal unfolding of body from spine in utero. It begins with the sound of heartbeat and rushing blood. Then waves of lovely tones intermingle, slightly muted, rising up and down in a short, repetitive theme that will return in later sections. The piece begins in a still, enfolded place and moves out into form. (18:15)

  
  First Folds Part Two begins with the percussive edges of folds then leads into an emphasis on harmonics -melodic and dissonant. The earlier theme returns to intermingle with alternative themes, all weaving into the fabric of sound as we expand out into extremeties and beyond into ethereal fields. The fold, as articulated oscillation, travels far beyond our corporeal realms. (10:14)

  
  11th Harmonic stretches over four octaves of harmonic overtones. This piece was based on some experiments that demonstrated a particular harmonic interval that could break up stuck cells (i.e. tumors). And while the interval used in the experiments is out of the audible range, the Law of Octave allows the interval to be extrapolated into the hearing range. The primary tonal relationship is rendered as a fundamental frequency and its fifth in the fourth octave above the fundamental. My experience is that this piece is capable of stirring things up on multiple levels. It uses the fundamental to 11th harmonic interval as its basic fold, then builds from there. I played with propagation dynamics in the final mix as a way to move the soundscape closer in and further from the listener. (11 minutes) An 11/11 wink- I did not plan 11 minutes. I noticed it after the fact.

  
  Accordion Breathing and Folding the Edges were prompted by Glenna's idea for a "squeeze box/accordion folds event." From this I began exploring what makes an accordian fold. This type of fold follows geometric lines, has more symmetry and presents repetitively. Accordian folds have edges - in order to BE an accordian fold there must be two edges that fold away from each other. They hold their shape as they move. The smallest unit of an accordian fold is, interestingly, a tryptych! There is a strong sense of expanding and contracting, of opening and closing, of breathing with accordian folds. So the soundscape has edges, repetitive patterns, triad/triplet relationships and breathing space. (5:15)

  
  Floating Enfolded (10:18) and Floating Downstream 2018 (7:02) were added as accompaniment for Glenna's online class in Human Origami. ... more
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