Neal, Beggs

Shipsides, Dan

English

Shipsides and Beggs’ (SBP) audio-based research exploring the overlay and merging between topographical and the psychological poetics within the historic and geographic context of mountain warfare in the Italian Dolomites, where the precipitous, sublime terrain was a precariously strategic and brutal war front throughout WW1. Linked to this, Decimation was a terrifying policy of the Italian Military in WW1, where one in ten soldiers were randomly executed if anyone in that section was thought guilty of cowardice. These factors set the haunting context that the research sought to engage with a methodological sensibility. Drawing from experiential research of mountaineering fieldwork, the research developed a new experimental methodology in taking the elevation data of the 1916 Italian/Austro-Hungarian mountain frontier, transcoding it into midi and then composing it into a musical partition/score. The research process then used and developed open-source software Pure-Data to construct a complex system to transform the data into a topographical sound-art piece. The process of constructing the complex Pure-Data patch system is a key part of the research process which then facilitates the audio to be transcribed into sheet music as a further outcome. Musical terms, with warfare relevance, such as ‘attack’, ‘velocity’ and ‘sustain’ were incorporated into the system to allow each data point to be minutely compositionally modulated to encode a human quality to the audio music. Configured for two pianos playing in keys A-flat and F-minor the work takes on a haunting musical form. An early research phase, Decimation in D, was presented live within the Venice Biennale collateral events at Microclima (The Iron Way, 2017). The final stage, a hand-cut vinyl record edition, was commissioned within a solo exhibition (La Cuisine, France, 2018) which also included: live-recital (developed with professional classical pianist Scotton-Goulard), artist performance/conference (The Anarchy Tree), online audio artwork and podcast/radio broadcast

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12/09/2019 Shipsides & Beggs - DECIMATION in A-ﬂat and F-minorwww.danshipsides.com/DshipsidesWeb/DECIAF.html 1/9Shipsides	and	Beggs	Projects	-	DECIMATION	in	A-flat	and	F-minor					HomeCV	&	contactTextsBibliographyArtworksProjects													12/09/2019 Shipsides & Beggs - DECIMATION in A-ﬂat and F-minorwww.danshipsides.com/DshipsidesWeb/DECIAF.html 2/9Decimation	in	A-flat	and	F-minor	-	Configured	for	P ianoShipsides	and	Beggs	ProjectsAudio	artwork	(inc.	12	inch	vinyl	record)31min201812/09/2019 Shipsides & Beggs - DECIMATION in A-ﬂat and F-minorwww.danshipsides.com/DshipsidesWeb/DECIAF.html 3/9An	excerpt	of	the	audio	work	is	here	:	The	full	work	is	here:	Decimation	in	A-flat	and	F-minor	-	Configured	for	Live	P ianoShipsides	and	Beggs	Projects	-	performed	live	by	Caroline	Scotton36min2018After	an	intensive	period	of	working,	transcribing	the	midi	to	sheet	music	and	arranging	thecomposition	it	was	then	developed	and	performed	live	by	professional	French	classical	pianistCaroline	Scotton-Goulard.	The	event	took	place	at	La	Cuisine	Centre	d'Arte	et	de	Design,	inThreeminutesofDecimationfortwopianosinAFlatandFminor.ShipsidesandBeggsProjects2018from NealBeggs03:0530:5112/09/2019 Shipsides & Beggs - DECIMATION in A-ﬂat and F-minorwww.danshipsides.com/DshipsidesWeb/DECIAF.html 4/9France	as	the	final	phase	of	the	Lament	of	the	Accvolade	Tree	exhibition	by	Shipsides	andBeggs.Live	audio	documentation	of	this	event	is	here:	Draft	text:Decimation	in	A-flat	and	F-minor	is	a	work	which	has	developed	over	several	years,	refininga	process	and	developing	a	programming	system	and	concept	to	a	point	where	the	project	hasreached	a	significant	level	of	maturity	and	resolution	–	thanks	in	huge	part	to	Neal.	The	principle	is	that	of	transcoding	altitudinal	height	of	geographic,	topological	and	politicalpartitions	into	audio	data	and	then	producing	musical	forms	out	of	that	data.	Partially	theconcept	developed	through	an	association	with	the	steel	wires	of	Via	Ferrata	(tensioned	metalcables	and	stemples	introduced	in	WW1	as	a	way	of	industrially	and	militarily	occupying	thesummits	of	that	war	frontier)	and	the	metallic	and	potentially	musical	noise	they	make	whilstclimbing	in	the	Dolomites	and	imagining	what	form	of	sound	and	music	these	literal	partitions(these	iron-lines	in	the	landscape	contributed	to	a	significant	historical	partitioning	of	Europe)might	constitute.	The	SBP	work	BIVACCO	(2011)	explored	some	aspects	of	this	phenomenon.The	process	has	been	developed	through	several	stages	and	artworks.	Neal	prototyped	theconcept	through	a	work	From	Our	House	to	the	Summit	of	Europe	–	which	took	a	line	from	thesummit	of	Mount	Blanc	to	his	house	in	northern	France.	We	have	also	developed	other	worksusing	the	political	partition	of	Belgium	(some	of	which	features	in	Zombie	Line	and	in	the35:1912/09/2019 Shipsides & Beggs - DECIMATION in A-ﬂat and F-minorwww.danshipsides.com/DshipsidesWeb/DECIAF.html 5/9exhibition	at	L’Orangerie,	Bastonge,	2015)	and	that	between	France	and	Spain	(performed	atPau	at	the	Bel	Ordinaire,	2016).Often	these	partitions	have	developed	in	a	way	to	facilitate	live	performance	(with	guitar,harmonica,	melodica,	drums,	voice,	electronic	instruments	and	improvised	wind	instruments)which	has	allowed	a	level	of	flexibility	and	shift	so	as	to	accommodate	vernacular	or	popularmusic	as	elements	of	the	partition	melody	connect	to	or	suggest	–	for	instance	in	the	Spanish	-France	partition	Somewhere	Over	the	Rainbow	is	present	in	the	notation.	The	harmonies	thatemerge	also	allow	us	to	fold	in	other	songs	including	those	of	our	own.	A	raw	version	of	theDecimation	concept	was	experimentally	performed	with	guitar,	drums,	electronics	and	otherinstruments	at	Microclima	in	Venice	in	2017	and	makes	up	the	spine	of	a	series	of	edited	videosof	this	performance	called	THE	IRON	WAY	(this	audio/video/performative	work	was	orginallycalled	Decimation	in	D	and	was	the	basis	of	this	matured	work).It	is	useful	and	important	here	to	say	that	in	French	the	word	“partition”	also	refers	to	harmonyin	music	in	terms	of	how	octaves	are	constructed	and	operate	in	relation	to	audio	frequency	–so	the	double	meaning	with	geo-political	partitioning	is	a	useful	tool	into	establishing	aconceptual	frame	for	this	work.Decimation	in	A-flat	and	F-minor	derives	its	data	from	the	Italian-Austrian	frontier	in	1916where	we	climbed	in	phases	of	field	research	and	encountered	the	WW1	histories	which	is	stillvery	much	a	present	and,	at	times,	ghostly	phenomenon.	In	this	war,	the	Italian	army	re-instituted	the	terrifying	policy	(it	also	was	a	system	used	in	Roman	times)	of	Decimation.Decimation	is	where	one	in	ten	soldiers	could	be	randomly	selected	and	executed	if	any	soldierin	that	section	was	thought	guilty	of	cowardice.	In	practice,	it	was	routinely	undertakenwhether	cowardice	had	been	suspected	of	taking	place	or	not.	In	this	way,	the	army	sought	toestablish	and	exploit	unwavering	obedience.	In	a	way,	it	establishes	the	fascist	dynamic	oftotalitarian	brutality	where	the	individual	has	no	justice,	value	or	autonomous	agency.	In	thislight,	the	mass	of	men	was	decimated	without	attention	to	specific	or	individual	value,	sense	orwhat	might	in	be	the	best	interests	of	even	the	local	war	objective	–	and	most	definitely	withno	cognizance	of	the	wider	interests	and	potential	of	human	relationships.	Decimation	as	aterm	might	be	a	way	of	also	thinking	of	the	fascistic	indiscriminate	relationship	to	the	planet,environment,	humanity,	society	and	the	individual	that	follows	through	much	of	western	powerand	economic	driven	politics	through	the	20th	Century	and	through	to	neo-liberalism	today.In	this	context,	climbing	in	the	Dolomites	(as	in	many	other	climbing	locations)	brings	aconnection	to	global	politics	and	the	haunting	nature	of	what	much	of	its	power	dynamics	arehistorically	built	on	–	brutal	partition,	decimation	and	exploitation.	12/09/2019 Shipsides & Beggs - DECIMATION in A-ﬂat and F-minorwww.danshipsides.com/DshipsidesWeb/DECIAF.html 6/9											Consequently	Decimation	in	A-flat	and	F-minor	emerged	from	this	context	and	has	a	particularhaunting	sensibility	and	beauty	–	although	it	also	light	and	simple.	It	is	configured	for	twopianos	playing	in	chords	A?and	F#.	The	notation	in	these	works	(and	most	pronouncedlydeveloped	in	Decimation	in	A-flat	and	F-minor)	is	not	simply	coded	from	the	altitudinal	data	–that	is	near	impossible	because	one	has	to	make	decisions	as	to	how	to	organise	the	data	intosets	of	usable	and	coherent	information	–	establishing	sets	of	octave	based	data.	In	doing	this–	using	Pure	Data	programming	the	process	sets	about	creating	harmonics	out	of	chaos.	So,(quote	from	a	performative	talk	in	Venice	2017):	We	became	interestedIn	the	octave	And	the	chaos	OfFrequency	And	how	it	is	partitionedTo	createHarmonyAndSome	kind	OfOrderAnd	in	the	same	wayContinentsArePartitionedTo	createSome	kindOf	balanceNow,	whether	that	is	goodOrBadIn	discordOr	Whateveris	an	open	question.							12/09/2019 Shipsides & Beggs - DECIMATION in A-ﬂat and F-minorwww.danshipsides.com/DshipsidesWeb/DECIAF.html 7/9											Graphically	Pure	Data	allows	information	to	be	organised	and	made	active	visually	–	in	patch-like	sets.	So,	the	sets	of	information	establish	a	painstaking	rigorous	systemic	flow	betweendata	faithful	to	the	process	undertaken	from	terrain	mapping	to	music.	There	is	a	minute	focuson	details	–	making	numbers	active	within	a	system	in	sets	of	patches	–	and	a	sense	ofestablishing	coherent	harmonies	within	a	mass	of	otherwise	incoherent	chaotic	data.	Thesystem	does	not	totalise	the	general	idea	but	brings	its’	structure	from	the	terrain	and	the	needto	set	up	harmonic	patches.	This	might	relate	to	Cezanne’s	landscape	orientated	approach	tothe	“patch”	where	(we	spoke	about	this	is	in	the	conference	in	La	Cuisine)	he	speaks	ofperceiving	harmonies	which	are	not	made	from	blended	total	scenes	but	from	patch	againstpatch	so	that	difference	and	juxtaposition	exist	as	crucial	elements.						12/09/2019 Shipsides & Beggs - DECIMATION in A-ﬂat and F-minorwww.danshipsides.com/DshipsidesWeb/DECIAF.html 8/9									This	system	of	coding	through	Pure	Data	is	worked	by	hand	(Neal’s	hands)	-	this	aspect	is	notcomputer	derived	or	batch	processed.	Each	piece	of	data	is	individually	worked	with	andassigned	a	relationship	within	and	to	the	partition.	It	is	painstaking	work	–	but	this	level	ofproximity	and	built-in	nuance	allows	for	the	human	quality	of	the	electronically	outputted	work.This	is	why	it	sounds	so	much	as	though	Decimation	in	A-flat	and	F-minor	is	actually	played	bya	human	pianist	-	and	why	to	have	it	performed	live	then	became	the	next	logical	and	creativestep.	The	work	exists	in	several	forms:as	Pure	Data	electronical	output	audio	data	fileas	a	vinyl	record	pressed	using	the	audio	fileas	transferred	into	music	notation	for	live	performance	(first	arranged	and	performed	byCaroline	Scotton	Goulard	La	Cuisine	in	September	2018	-	see	above.)	A	raw	version	of	this	concept	was	also	performed	with	guitar,	drums,	electronics	and	otherinstruments	at	Microclima	in	Venice	in	2017	and	makes	up	the	spine	of	a	series	of	edited	videoscalled	THE	IRON	WAY	(this	audio	work	as	orginally	called	Decimation	in	D	and	was	the	basis	ofthis	matured	work).	This	material	is	here:THE	IRON	WAY		12/09/2019 Shipsides & Beggs - DECIMATION in A-ﬂat and F-minorwww.danshipsides.com/DshipsidesWeb/DECIAF.html 9/9				

DECIMATION in A-flat and F-minor

https://pure.ulster.ac.uk/ws/files/77301678/Shipsides_Beggs_DECIMATION_in_A_flat_and_F_minor.pdf

DECIMATION in A-flat and F-minor

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