Drone music with ring modulator - hearing the inaudiable

A drone is a music technique of uses sustained sound notes or tone clusters. The drone often has the function of referring to a tonal center or a sustain a tone color. Here are two examples, an old 12th century and a 20th century, using drones as a contrasting function. In the old Leonin's biphonic texture, the drone anchors the tonal center of the organum; in the new Young's minimalistic texture, the drone demonstrates the timbre of the instruments.

Organum Duplum for Christmas Day, "Viderunt Omnes" by Leonin (fl. 1150s — d. ? 1201)
Composition 1960 #7 by LaMonte Young (1935-)

The drone does not have to always be audible by itself. I developed a ring modulator, the carrier frequency is the open C on cello (65.41Hz), which means the signal gate opens and closes 65.41 times per second. 


Here is my pure data patch

The carrier frequency (65.41Hz) is inaudible by itself. When the audio signal is inputted, the modulator ​​creates two brand-new frequencies which are the sum and difference of the input frequency and original ringing frequency. Below is an example, If the input frequency is D3 146.83Hz, the output frequencies, the result of interference, are 81.41Hz and 212.24Hz.

 Stockhausen's Mantra also use ring modulator

Similar to this case, I have also explored the acoustic of combination tone, playing two different frequencies resulting in the third tone.








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