Photo of Valerio Sannicandro

Cortex

Valerio Sannicandro

Description

Organized in two very distant sonic layers, "Cortex" creates a continuous, breathtaking line made of moving agglomerates, explosive complex sounds, and sudden screaming gestures that project the listener into a kaleidoscopic – yet still dark – sound world. On one side, the use of very low frequencies – transformed by a pedal-buzz – creates a distinctly haptic acoustic feeling; on the other, the continuous timbre-variation of repeated pitches is framed by another, rather theatrical element: the human voice, which underlines, expands, and enriches the attacks.

A sudden shift appears near the end, when a highly percussive section (prepared string) abruptly projects the discourse into a distinctly dystopian sonic world, before retreating into a calm fade-out, as a complex chord slowly decomposes into a thin, ephemeral line.