Programme Notes





SATURDAY



Sonic Fabric Weaving Rhythms of Dissonance
Keyi Xu - 15,00 | Live AV

This composition embarks on an innovative journey to explore the potential ofpercussive sounds within electroacoustic music, drawing inspiration from themechanical genius of Trimpin's Piano Vorsetzerand the rhythmic complexitychampioned by Conlon Nancarrow. By recontextualizing the automated mechanismsand integrating them with Nancarrow’s sophisticated rhythmic theories(Wannamaker,2012), the composition aims to uncover new dimensions of sonic expression. The focuslies on utilizing percussive instruments to articulate intricate rhythmic patterns, thuspushing the boundaries of instrumental musical expression into the realm ofelectroacoustic innovation. This endeavor not only pays homage to the avant-gardelegacies of Trimpin and Nancarrow but also contributes to the ongoing discourse on thefusion of mechanical, acoustic, and EA music technologies.



TLATOANI
Rosalia Soria Luz - 9,50 | 8-channel


This piece is inspired by the word Tlatoani, which comes from the ancient Mexican Nahuatl language and means “the one who speaks” or “the ruler.” It was used to refer to the leaders of the Mexica Empire before the Spanish colonisation of Mexico. The acoustic sounds in the composition are derived from pre-Hispanic Mexican instruments, including the death whistle—a scream-like instrument that was used in battle by the ancient Aztecs. These traditional sounds are intertwined with synthetic tones and voice manipulations, creating a blend of textures and otherworldly landscapes. The composer’s intent is to evoke the spirit of the Mexica rulers, who reigned before the empire's fall at the hands of Spanish colonisation.



Ordeshala
Cameron Naylor - 12,00 | 8-channel

The creaks of wood, sweeping of brooms, and the clink and scrapes of chainmail and pewter crockery. Hear the sonic past and present of Ordsall Hall through an exploration of the acoustics and objects found in its many rooms.

The sounds heard throughout were performed and recorded by visitors to the hall during a series of self-guided sound recording workshops. These sounds have been collected, curated, and manipulated to interrogate interactions between the sonic past and present of the hall.



Filter Mouth
Guillaume Dujat - 3,38 | Stereo

Shortly after Rob Hordijk’s passing in 2022, Jos Smolders got in touch for contributions to a compilation honouring Hordijk’s incredible legacy of synthesiser designs:  Hordijk, Vol. 2 (Flag Day Records). Over the next two months, ‘Filter Mouth’ (named after Rob’s predisposition to mirror filter sweep sounds with mouth shapes on his visit to NOVARS in 2017) was devised entirely of recordings generated from three Hordijk modules (one ‘triptych’: [rungler]-[Fader enfv shaper]-[phaser frq shifter]) exploring internal feedback systems. No post processing (apart from the mastering by Jos), just pure Hordijk sounds arranged on a timeline to showcase the rich and physical sounds that can emerge from it.



the pigeons from my window
Hayley Suviste - 15,00 | Live Ambisonic

A live ambisonic performance, recently developed for presentation at PINK in Stockport - re-imagined for the MANTIS system.








Live Performance
Kelly Jayne Jones - 50,00 | Stereo AV

Kelly Jayne Jones is a Manchester based artist making work that combines performance, installation and sound. She is self taught and began working in DIY experimental noise music and her practice has expanded to include sound installation, dance, gesture, sonic drawings, stone sculpture and film scores.



Noise soup then not
Tanguy Pocquet - 13,00 | Stereo AV

How do AI networks learn? Random number tweaking until it works. Lots of interconnected numbers... Before the numbers are fully tweaked, a network might be creating things that are strange, fun, or right-out nonsensical. This work puts these oddities, and the training process as a whole, into focus. It a sonification and visualisation of the processing data of a generative adversarial network, a type of neural network, during training.


10-minute interval


Noisy Zoo
Sarah Keirle-Dos Santos - 7,00 | Stereo

'The Noisy Zoo' was an application created during my PhD where user interaction enabled transition between different animal sonic and behavioural identities. Sounds were recorded at Jersey Zoo, the headquarters of Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, This is a short piece constructed from the highly randomised materials from the app of the same name



Exhibits
Tasos Asonitis - 17,15 | Stereo AV

Exhibits introduces a fictional gallery where four sculptures are presented and combined in surrealistic transformations. The sculptures are separated into two categories: the geometric solids and the algorithmic sculptures. The algorithmic sculptures have been generated through the three-dimensional visualisation of Genetic Algorithm’s optimisation process. Through this process two sculptures were obtained resembling distorted or xenomorphic versions of the geometric solids. The two sculpture types are hybridised and increasingly deformed, as the piece balances on the interplay between recognisable and unrecognisable, symmetrical and biomorphic, rigid and elastic. This dialogic narrative unfolds in three acts during which we explore the sculptures visually and sonically. The latter becomes possible through a mechanism that scans the geometry of the sculpture and conveys its shape to sound. Experimenting with various scanning directions and patterns, novel sonic material is obtained, ranging from complex textures and rhythmic articulations to expressive gestures. As the result of the direct conversion of the morphology of each sculpture to sound, this technique maintains a powerful intrinsic connection between sound and image, functioning as the carrier of narrative for the greatest part of the work.




SUNDAY


Dokodemo Door (Anywhere Door)
Jintao Yan - 4,47 | Stereo
 Illness arrived, I desperately wished every door could become that miraculous portal, instantly transporting me to her side. Yet upon returning, each push of the ward door handle demanded tremendous courage. Though I cannot physically walk through the doors of MHC to share MANTIS with you this time, I hope this work might still resonate across distances. March 1st marks both my birthday and the anniversary of my mother's most painful day 23 years ago. May this remind us all to embrace our loved ones. We deem that love can cure every pain and may the peace be with us.


Metronome
Shurui Zhang - 4,17 | Stereo

Metronome explores the duality of practicing with a metronome, capturing both the frustration of repetition and the discipline it instills. The piece invites the listener into an imaginative journey—stepping “inside” the metronome to experience rhythm from within. As the rigid pulse gives way to fluid expression, the performer reclaims musical freedom, moving beyond mechanical precision into a more personal, emotive space. Techniques such as reverse audio processing and stereo panning are employed to reflect the shifting mindset between constraint and liberation, discipline and creativity.


Very Careful
Ke Shi - 4,58 | Stereo

This piece explores the connection between auditory perception and data by transforming data related to dyslexia into acoustic events through data sound mapping (sonification) and incorporating broken vocal elements. The work uses the incompleteness and fragmentation of the human voice to the challenges of information processing for people with dyslexia. Through precise control of frequency, dynamics and timbre, it demonstrates the acoustic categorization of data features in the temporal and spatial dimensions, and conveys emotional depth and inclusive experience through the structured arrangement of sound events



Meteorite
Shiwen Qui - 4,26 | Stereo

This sonification piece explores meteorite impact data using sound to articulate therelationship between meteorite impact events and time. Based on key data points suchas the Príbram meteorite, the Great Daylight fireball, and the peak of the 1979 meteoriterecord, sound elements are mapped to represent size, velocity, and event density. By integratingdynamic changes in timbre, rhythm and volume, the work transitions fromcalm texture to intense impact, reflecting historical trends. The mix of smooth, continuous curvesand sharp, discrete events emphasises the data-driven structure, creating an engaging, cohesive,narrative work based on meteorological phenomena.



Balloon
Wenxin Zhou - 4,58 | Stereo

Contemporary people‘s lives are under great pressure. They feel this kind of pressure and balloons. They often have gas coming in, and they also need to release at the right time, so this music uses a balloon to show Human stress. 

Inside balloon and outside balloon to show the contrast. Water shows the stress comes like water moving, and especially water drop to the ballon gives pressure oppression to people.


Echoing Realm
Wenxi Song - 4,26 | Stereo

In this piece, I explored the concepts of time and space by incorporating recorded sounds from both indoor and outdoor environments. These recordings served as the foundation for a sonic journey, where I employed various sound manipulation techniques such as granular synthesis, spectral processing, and spatialization to reshape and recontextualize the original materials. My goal is to create an immersive auditory experience that conveys a dynamic sense of movement and depth. By mapping and articulating the relationships between these sounds, I aim to seamlessly blend real and imagined spaces into a cohesive, expressive, and evocative composition.



Alone with Everybody
George Parris - 5,05 | Stereo

This étude is based on the Charles Bukowski poem Alone With Everybody. In this piece,following short passages of spoken word, the audio attempts to reflect the content of the poem. Responding to the emotion and physical locations portrayed in the lines and stanzas.


10-minute interval



Sounds of ZImbabwe
Ryan Woods & ZAS (Zimbabwean Action in Solidarity) -  40,00 | Ambisonic

In March - June 2024 Zimbabwe Action in Solidarity came together in Leicester with Ryan Woods to explore migration, memory and identity in sound. They did sound walks, sonic meditations, made field recording, wrote poetry and shared traditional song and dance. They curated a performance of song, dance, poetry and sung soundscapes. This piece uses recordings from the project and resulting performance to explore narratives of migration, nostalgia for Zimbabwe and finding belonging in the UK.

Thanks to the University of Manchester for funding the project.





INSTALLATION


My Favourite T-shirt
Ricardo Climent

My Favourite T-Shirt is a 2.5D side-scrolling platformer video game aiming to create awareness among young people about water scarcity and pollution caused by Fast Fashion. The plot takes place in Uttar Lakadee, a fictional village with a long history of making wood carving stamps for traditional textile printing. In this small village, the fast fashion industry has turned local life into a nightmare. Rivers and aquifers water are poisoned, the air is thick with smog, and homes are buried under mountains of cloths waste.

Fun but challenging gameplay. You play as ‘Acerico’ (pincushion), a wood carving stamp apprentice and former fast fashion factory worker. Acerico's mission is to restore environmental balance while reinventing local industry practices.

Game Levels: Seeing Uttar Lakadee gradual transformation into a wasteland has broken your heart. Your brave decision to escape the factory wasn't easy and will be full of obstacles. Fast Fashion impact on water scarcity: Fast fashion is a business model in the fashion industry focused on producing clothing quickly and inexpensively to keep up with rapidly changing trends. The goal is to bring trendy, runway-inspired designs to consumers at affordable prices, often with a short turnaround time from design to store shelves. Fast fashion contributes to water scarcity through the vast amounts of water used in cotton farming, dyeing, and garment production. For example, producing one cotton shirt can require over 2,700 litres of water. Additionally, untreated wastewater from dyeing processes pollutes freshwater sources, further depleting clean water availability.Sustainable Practices: My Favourite T-Shirt's playful and imaginative approach to how Fast Fashion impacts on water scarcity provides key information about sustainable practices in the textile industry, ranging from returning to more eco-friendly traditional printing techniques, to replacing chemicals for natural dyeing, to the benefits of recycling and donating clothes and garments.All 'favourite' T-shirts appearing in the game are mostly provided by children and gamer friends. We also work with local communities to create their favourite T-Shirt designs and the reason why they love them so much.

Collaboration: Climent fully developed this video game project, including programming, 3D modelling, rigging, animation, Sound design, and part of the music. Via KeepItHuman Studio he commissioned Benoit André to compose part of the music of this game and the music of other titles such as resourceful world and mangrove world. A number of 3D assets were used under creative commons with creditation.