Prolog

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The computer also performed the frequency analysis on three short stretches of noise (underlying the phone call) which were turned into parts with radio-play character: the Prolog, the Intermezzo and the Epilog.

The algorithm–designed to trace harmonic or quasi-harmonic spectra–extracted frequencies which, despite of the randomness of the sound source, exhibit the characteristic of harmonic spectra (an analogy to seeing faces in clouds or hearing melodies in waterfalls–I used this as a metaphor for the human mind attempting to making sense out of the senseless).

In the Prolog the spectral sounds are played softly before the entrances of swimming pool samples–the sounds of laughing and splashing people interrupted by the sounds of a whistle, a boucing springboard and an immersing body. This soundscape, which undergoes sonic manipulation, serves as a background to the narration of two texts by Brasch: An improvised poem spoken onto an answering machine and the actual libretto.

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