Between 2023 and 2024, as the pandemic began to subside and a new daily life emerged, an exciting project opportunity opened up for me: the Speculative Sound Synthesis research. My friend Luc was kind enough to include me in a major project proposal. While the funding results were originally expected during the height of COVID-19, the project—like so many other things at the time—came to a halt. I had even forgotten that my name was on the proposal.
Fortunately, the project eventually received funding. It was originally planned as a three-year endeavor, but unfortunately, Luc and I had to step away after just two years. I prefer not to discuss the reasons, and at this point, they are no longer important. What matters is the lasting impact those two years had on me.
It has been a long time since I engaged in formal research. I completed my Master’s at Sonology in 2008 and another in Amsterdam in 2011. While I have released many works and conducted smaller studies over the past decade, this project allowed me to realize several things about my practice.
First, through years of composition, I have accumulated much more to say and more things I want to explore. Second, I noticed that my creative process had begun to take on certain patterns—one could say my artistic voice has become clearer. Third, I started questioning very small, fundamental things. These are often closer to philosophical inquiries; I began to harbor basic yet profound questions about the sounds I handle and the technologies I use to create them.
To elaborate, we primarily create or transform sound using computers, which means following digital signal processing (DSP) methods. I understand how signals are processed through my studies in DSP. However, ultimately, behind those technical calculations lies a specific way of handling time—and the same applies to analog methods. I realized I had never seriously considered what fundamental difference these two approaches bring to us as electronic music composers.
I discovered that the worlds of analog and digital, so close yet so far, have always been with me in an unfamiliar way. It was a moment of sudden clarity: I needed to return to the basics. I wanted to understand signals more deeply. And so, the project began.
I started by focusing on how time is processed from analog to digital. Following my characteristic “tinkering” approach, I allowed myself to cross over into whatever areas piqued my interest, resulting in several fascinating experiments.
Moving forward, I intend to collect and share these experiments here—many of which were created back then but never published. These are not quite tutorials, nor are they clearly defined artistic outcomes. It is better to call them “experimental fragments.” By releasing them here, I will document my thought processes and questions, and perhaps I might find answers to one or two of them. Perhaps this writing is simply a means for me to maintain a proper record.
There may be moments where a post ends abruptly without a clear conclusion, but I want to steadily list these past experiments as a series while continuing to pursue new ones. As mentioned, the research was interrupted after two years, and I moved on to other projects. It feels as though I only opened the door to let some air in without progressing further. Now, I want to return to that research and continue it on my own (with occasional conversations with Luc).
If someone happens to find and read this, that would be wonderful. But even if not, I am content. I am simply grateful to finally begin this record.