DISCOVERY ENGINE

Discovery Engine is a new music drive multi-art performance by composer/director Jack Pres. The work is best described as part medieval mass, part dada happening, part Celine Dion Las Vegas spectacular. It draws on the lineage of western vocal music, specifically plainchant and 20th century power ballads, to create a new experimental concert experience. A spiritually deep experimental artwork wrapped in pop-music spectacle.

Discovery Engine see Jack work with a stellar list of collaborators including Brian Fuata, Marcus Whale, Freya Schack-Arnott and Benjamin Freeman. The work is entering its first major development in March/May 2024 with peer support from Create NSW music board and Phoenix Cultural Centre.

During this upcoming development Jack will lead his collaborators in an improvised compositional and recording process focused on three experimental methods:

1. Creating ambient drone music using melodies from plainchant mass played in unison on synth, cello, trumpet, voice etc.

2. Deconstructing power ballad chord progressions into elongated drone and ambient music. e.g. taking the chord progression of Celine Dion’s All By Myself and making each chord change happen over minutes rather than seconds.

3. Writing songs in the structures of power ballads and plainchant but using experimental electronics and improvised spoken word and lyrics.

These experiments engage the spiritual depth of plainchant to create a celestial atmosphere. The tension and release of the pop chord progressions shifts the emotional impact of the drone and ambient music. The compositions using more traditional structures provide opportunities to change style and intensity breaking up the longer drone pieces.

Further development is planned for late 2024 to develop lighting, choreography, costumes and refine the outcomes of this development. Producer Intimate Spectacle will work to secure presentation in 2025 with confirmed interest from The Substation, New Festival and Phoenix Central Park.

This development builds on outcomes from Jack’s 2022 Bundanon Trust residency with collaborator Ben Freeman. It start with drone experimentations with the concept for using smart phones collectively as a delay unit. Each of the screens in the google meet is a different device that is being fed parts of the audio via the internet. The bit crushed feedback sounds are being created by streaming the audio through google meet to create a feedback loop similar to a tape delay.

Please use headphones or a decent sound system when viewing this video, this performance work is driven/led by the music which will be difficult to fully appreciate via laptop or low quality audio playback devices.