“Termitarium” – A Response by Rui Inaba
Schedule
Sat, 01 Nov, 2025 at 04:00 am
UTC+13:00Location
4 Poynton Terrace, Auckland, New Zealand | Auckland, AU
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”Termitarium emerges from a reconsideration of my initial impulse to elaborate a “termite-world.” Instead of expanding the metaphor, the work internalizes it—Termitarium becomes a compositional structure that mirrors the self-organizing, acoustic, and spatial intelligence of the mound itself.
The piece integrates:
microtonal melodic cells and intervallic mutations
generative processes derived from chaotic systems
iterative binary rhythmic architectures
fluid modulation between rhythmic and tonal domains
experiments in subharmonic resonance
These elements coalesce within a framework akin to a hip-hop DJ set—modular, recombinant, and rhythmically assertive.
Microtonal harmony functions here as a perceptual displacement: a signal of estrangement, an invitation to inhabit a less familiar auditory ecology. The generative algorithms draw upon the original sonification dataset, extracting parameters and transformation rules that seed evolving musical behaviors.
Insects often articulate rhythmic identities through minimal means—a single sonic gesture, repeated and modulated. I adopt this constraint, reconfiguring it into FM-driven rhythmic drones that oscillate between pattern and noise.
Termites reportedly sense or communicate through infrasonic vibrations. Whether fact or myth, this proposition anchors the work’s exploration of low-frequency phenomena—zones where discrete events dissolve into continuous energy.
Subharmonic resonance here denotes a collapse of timbral stability: forming emergent rhythmic strata and deep harmonic textures.
Termitarium thus operates as both structure and metaphor—a resonant architecture built from swarm logic, vibration, and decay.
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Saturday 1 November, 2PM @ Audio Foundation
Koha
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Where is it happening?
4 Poynton Terrace, Auckland, New ZealandEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
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