Chihiro Ono has been working with the Artificial Intelligence team and facilities at RNCM Centre for Practice & Research in Science & Music (PRiSM) to create a new electroacoustic work. The commission explores themes of dynamical systems and natural environments, the central focus of it’s premiere event curated by Associate Composer Simon Knighton. Chihiro updates us on her creative process and her time working with PRiSM.

The Process

The PRiSM team is taking great care of me. This project feels like I am taking very small steps in very new shoes (perhaps stilettos!) in a completely dark place – it is totally out of my comfort zone. I feel it is a real privilege to be working with this powerful team for this project.

I submitted my first sound-set to PRiSM’s machine-learning facilities in May, and received the first test-output back a few weeks later in June. The resulting sounds are beautiful and fascinating, with a great sense of humour among other things, which I like a lot.

Working with this technology, I feel I can still recognise and dictate where the origin of the sound comes from; yet it’s almost like it loosens a part of their structure so the sounds can melt into each other, and from there they can develop into something completely new. It feels like creating another world or some kind of creature – it’s rather weird, very beautiful and quite powerful in different way.

Recently I have selected the sounds I like in order generate them into longer files. My usual attitude towards sound is that all sounds have meanings, which made this process difficult for me. I have absolutely no idea or even a starting point from which to determine "what is good” in this new world!

The Commission

I have been interested in collecting folkloric materials since I was very young – around 6 or 7 years old. For this project I am looking specifically at a Japanese island called Shodo-shima. In 2019, The folkloric researcher, Kawai Kazurou sensei gave me his documents and folkloric songs of the island – they are actually the only ones in existence from the island.

I used these as the basis for the sound-set which I submitted to PRiSM’s AI facility under 4 categories: Instruments, Life, Nature and Train.

During the process of choosing the sounds, I have also been closely studying the folk songs from the island Shodo-shima, as well as from my home town of Chiba. I decided to make my own folkloric melodies based on these folk songs for the PRiSM sound-set submission.

I am finally getting to be more familiar with the concept of dynamical systems now. My piece will reflect dynamical systems closely related to everyday life and Japanese traditions. My hope is that the resulting work will challenge our audience be curious and search for new sounds after the premiere. Some things that have inspired me so far are Japanese games such as Koma (a spinning top) and Otedama (a game with juggling balls), pendulums, rivers, and my personal favourite: wind chimes – among many others.

It is not easy journey for me, but it is certainly a great adventure. I am really looking forward to seeing how my mind and brain work with these materials, and to sharing the result with the audience in September.