Organism: In Turbulence

About

Organism: In Turbulence is a solo concert centered on a robotically prepared, century-old pipe organ that generates turbulent sound formations. The intervention destabilizes the organ’s socio-historical tonality to expose its raw, turbulent materiality and long-unheard timbres. Navid Navab improvises with the instrument—a 1910 Casavant pipe organ modified to remove aerodynamic edge-tone stabilizations—so that unstable timbres and shifting thresholds become the performance’s musical substance. The project spans instrument design, robotics, electronics, sculpture, and live performance: Navab is credited with concept, direction, sculpture, programming, design, electronics, and performance, while Garnet Willis contributes engineering, sculpture, lead design, and electronics. Produced with Transductive Formations, the concert presents an evolving ecology of interdependent timbres, microsonic polyrhythms, and swampy soundscapes rather than a fixed score.