Music of Fulfillment 41 — this is an experimental research project to create a musical composition by a unique method of random and, at the same time, calculated generation of elements of a musical language. An experiment by the EEGERU Contemporary Music Ensemble and the bULt working group, with the participation of ::vtol::, is an attempt to discover what Reality is by jointly peering into the meanings of random symbols and listening to the form that the sound takes after them.

The concept is based on the experience of studying accidents as a philosophical concept and an artistic tool; understanding the logic and results of "prediction" based on the idea of linear time and subject-object relationships.

The history of the board with nine fields originates in the Sumerian-Akkadian mythology, where, according to the "Lord of the Wind” legend, the God Enlil revealed to people the unchanging "Great World Law", inscribed on the board. The law did not impose any requirements on human behavior, but described the structure of the world order, thereby bringing knowledge, and could be practically applicable in all spheres of people's lives.

The result of the research of the joint interdisciplinary creative group was the development of the author's algorithm for a work of art, enshrined in a written instruction. The perceptual research environment is created with the help of acoustic instruments, electronic music, programmed sounds of technology and a visual-performative range that frames and guides the emerging narrative.

The project is divided into three parts, according to the number of layouts in the tradition of Kumalak prediction. Kumalakshi makes a layout on the board, the dropped values are translated into a graphic score and midi messages. The musicians begin to play, each his own part, depending on what values have fallen on each of the fields, reading the characters from the screen. The noise batch of the project is represented by two manned drones mounted on vertical guides.

The concert of experimental music will be held in the dome hall of the Museum of National Instruments on an 8-channel spatial sound system. The main musical directions presented in the program refer to atonal, concrete, and algorithmic music, revealing the avant-garde search for a new sound.

Kobyz is one of the symbols of the myth of Korkyt-ata - will become the basis of the atonal performance of qum.arna, a composer from Astana, who will make his debut with a live performance in collaboration with kobyzshy  Satkozy Mukhtar (winner of republican competitions, the Konrad Adenauer international scholarship and the international ERASMUS award, in 2021 became a member of the EEGERU Contemporary Music Ensemble). Adil Kairden about the performance: "At the very beginning, I had an empty and inviting garage band interface and no knowledge in the field, but I was told that I would be making music (as well as that kobyz would be my instrument of solitude and answers), and I decided to go from the opposite regarding the chord. Using exclusively telephone headphones, I recorded, cut and played with sound in every possible way for several years, later it turned out that this direction was dubbed “athonal music”. The experience of preparing for the performance served as an opportunity to approach the instrument particularly to its sound. Satkozy acted as a mentor over the instrument." 

Kokonja will play live based on field recordings made during an expedition to sacred places, including the Korkyt-Ata stalactite cave, a Singing dune in the Altynemel National Park, and a wind organ located near the village of Zhosaly in the Kyzylorda region. Korkut Ata is a live video created on the basis of the research trip to South Kazakhstan, including unique acoustic spaces and sacred places, such as a cave of the same name, a wind organ, and a singing dune, where Kokonja collected field recordings that will be included in the composition on a spatial sound setup.

The headliner of the program Hongshuo Fan (Manchester) will present a performance with the participation of a dombra performer based on a neural network algorithm that interacts with the instrumentalist, creating a composition in real time. Conversation in the Cloud is a live multimedia composition for one human musician and one AI musician. The conversation of both musicians begins at the intersection of reality and virtuality through music. Then, during a live performance, both musicians expand the boundaries of their abilities, improvising based on each other's music. Finally, the two worlds gradually blend as the dialogue deepens. The AI Musician is a complex system that applies many machine learning techniques to improve its machine music playing, such as deep neural networks and human body posture estimation. Thus, the combination of live multimedia and performances by two musicians creates a multidimensional musical conversation.

Prepared Surroundings is one of the strangest regular events in the field of musical or, in general, in sound culture of the CIS region. Officially called the "Annual International Festival of Experimental Sound", it was founded by a group of enthusiasts and was first held in 2009 at the NCCA (National Center of Contemporary Art) in Moscow, under the patronage of the famous curator Vitaly Patsyukov. Since then, 13 years and 13 Festivals have passed. From the very beginning, these were conceptual events, declared as an "informal dedication to John Cage" — the composer who defined experimental music in the XX century. Participants were asked to act in the Cage paradigm but try to interpret and change it based on the realities of the XXI century. Prepared Surroundings act according to the logic of "prepared" tools, widely popularized by Cage. However, from the very beginning we state a more abstract approach. Prepared Objects, Environments, Constructs. That's what the viewer awaits at our demonstrations. The easiest way to schematically explain this is: an object is something in front of the author, a surrounding is something around the author, a construct is a mental structure inside the author. In a way, Prepared Surroundings is a kind of creative voluntarism. The avant-garde within the avant-garde. A place for trials and radical experiments inside the experimental scene. Those who have been following the Festival all these years know what it can lead to. Sometimes it seemed that we had gone too far from music. Yes, but that's how Prepared Surroundings probably became the first festival of sound culture in the Russian-speaking space. Indeed, from electro-acoustic improvisations, we moved on to sensors, lasers, robots, swallowing pills and setting fire to pianos, to sound walks around the city, to exploding mushrooms and chemical experiments right on the stage, to compositions without beginning and end, to catching the ether, architecture, gallery exhibitions, learning human echolocation from the blind, acupuncture, various types of board and other games, microchip programming and dancing with dogs, etc. Artists from all over the world came to us, and over the past years Prepared Surroundings has become a unique event, within the framework of which cultural exchange was carried out between non-profit art communities in the field of sound art. Prepared Surroundings became part of the international sound rhizome.

The festival has changed over the course of its long history. From chamber concerts on Wednesdays to a chain of related events in different cities and countries over the months. "PS" are dedicated to experimental art and therefore have the freedom to experiment with forms of their own representation. This year we will present only two chamber events, and both of them will be held for the first time in Kazakhstan, in Almaty. On the one hand, this is a presentation of the Festival for the Kazakh public, on the other, a full-fledged Festival. PS-2022. Several regular long-term participants of Surroundings will show prepared performances at the traditional concert on Wednesday. And on Thursday there will be a micro-conference dedicated to the history of the festival, with a documentary showing, presentations by artists and discussions. We thank the Center for Contemporary Culture "Tselinny" for the unique opportunity to show the Festival in Kazakhstan.

The world is changing and the festival is changing as well, only our slogan remains unchanged:
"Participants will demonstrate work with prepared objects, surroundings, constructs."
Curator of PS-2022: Sergey Kasich