Nix Studios - Perception

P R E C E P T I O N

COMING SOON

Perception

(Composed and produced by Roozbeh Gharib)

Perception unfolds as an exploration of time, sound, and control — a composition where the human ensemble and machine intelligence share the same breath. Written between 2010 and 2013, it pairs acoustic and digital orchestras through generative systems in Max/MSP, letting harmony emerge unpredictably with each performance. No two renditions are identical: a single chord might turn from minor to major depending on the performers’ choices or the algorithms guiding them.

The second movement, Mediation, extends this dialogue into a slow, hypnotic resonance built on microtonal divisions of eighth-tones. While violins ascend and lower strings descend in infinitesimal steps, the violas remain fixed — creating an evolving, buzzing aura that seems to vibrate between worlds. The 2011 version quietly layers the full cycle of a washing machine beneath the ensemble, symbolizing the ordinary flow of time and domestic life; the later 2013 version removes this pulse, leaving a still, chamber-like atmosphere where silence becomes its own rhythm.

Presented in both versions, Perception becomes an act of listening as much as composition — a meditation on randomness, entropy, and the delicate intersection between freedom and form. The score itself, filled with invented accidentals and shifting parameters, reads as both a visual artwork and a living system. Each sound, each decision, reveals a new side of the same idea: that repetition never truly repeats, and perception is always transforming.