Memory Collage Scrambler (2022)

for sarah Belle Reid

Screen shot of Memory Collage Scrambler, made for Sarah Belle Reid by Ryan Gaston.
Memory Collage Scrambler audio example (2022)
Ryan Gaston feat. Todd Barton, Sarah Belle Reid, Patrick Shiroishi, + Eldar Tagi

Memory Collage Scrambler was developed in late 2021/early 2022, to assist in creating audio collage material for Sarah Belle Reid’s forthcoming electroacoustic opera. Sarah had petitioned a number of patrons to provide audio for her opera—recordings of them describing their memories or dreams—in order to create soundscapes for her opera. Rather than tediously editing/collaging audio by hand, we decided it made sense to create an autonomous process that could create collage-like sonic structures from folders of .WAV files.

I had previously been experimenting with audio buffer manipulation/glitch techniques in Glitch Patch and other patches. Simultaneously, I was going through an intense period of fascination with Eventide audio processors, Don Buchla’s 288 Time Domain Processor, and multi-tap delays in general—as such, I opted to make a multi-tap delay the central feature of the patch.

The patch looks at a folder of .WAV files, and randomly plays small segments of them. Each time a new segment is played, a trigger is sent throughout the application in order to randomize any/all sound generation/audio processing parameters. The sampled sounds are played through a 16-tap stereo delay, with the option for latching/dynamic glitching behavior. The final audio output may be recorded to a .WAV file.

I have used Memory Collage Scrambler for a number of my own pieces, including many sections of my forthcoming album Friends Unraveling. Several variations of the patch were created, including several versions that make use of the chorus/delay/reverb found originally in B400V. Ultimately, I adapted the patch for use with live audio input—eventually evolving into the Multi-Delay + Latching Glitch Processor.

The original, purely sample/delay-based Memory Collage Scrambler is available through Sarah Belle Reid’s Patreon. There, you can access the original .maxpat file and a standalone .app for Mac computers, as well as video documentation of how it is meant to be used.