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Congratulations! Hsiang-Yu Hsiao's work "Before Time and After Eternity", a graduate student majoring in electronic technology and music, was selected for NYCEMF 2025 New York Electronic Music Festival. (Instructor: Professor Yu-Chung TSENG).
This piece portrays the evolution of the universe, beginning with the Big Bang from a singularity. It depicts the formation of the first generation of stars, which gradually gave rise to stellar and planetary systems.
Sonically, I aim to convey a sense of progression over time by ensuring that at least one auditory parameter evolves continuously within each layer—such as pitch, rhythm, or harmonic content. In the vertical structure, I use contrasting timbres that are widely spaced to create a sense of depth and stratification.
The sound materials are derived from two primary sources. One part consists of sampled sounds, including natural elements such as crackling fire, wind, thunder, and tones derived from seismic waveforms. The other part comprises synthesized and modulated sounds, such as the four basic waveforms, noise, wavetable synthesis, as well as FM and RM synthesis techniques.