theswere
studies in reductive synthesis

a quarterly circulation of short-duration audio works, field notes and marginalia in electronic composition. each dispatch documents a single parameter change, one patch, one listening. everything is made at low volume.

tsw-006 · 2026.01

a catalogue of held tones that do not resolve

E. Sundström

four pieces for FM voice, each ending on a fifth partial rather than the root. the pieces are presented in ascending order of their inability to conclude. listeners have reported involuntary posture changes during the third piece; we record this without interpretation.

duration 23:40 four movements FM, 2-op
tsw-005 · 2025.10

notes from a room with three resonant frequencies

anonymous, submitted via intermediary

an installation recording. three test tones (120 hz, 480 hz, 1920 hz) are introduced sequentially over an unattended twelve-hour period. the room responds. portions of the recording are unlistenable; we do not consider this a failure.

duration 12:00:00 excerpted to 47:12 stereo, fixed mic
tsw-004 · 2025.07

patch for a single modulation source

V. Antonsen

a score, not a recording. three pages of written instructions for setting up a patch that produces no audible result until the sixth minute, at which point the result cannot be described without simultaneously being inaccurate. the score is distributed as a paper leaflet; no audio is included.

format: score only 3 pages edition of 60
tsw-003 · 2025.04

studies in envelope behaviour (set i)

M. Krol, K. Aradi

twelve envelope shapes applied to identical source material, presented without commentary. the shapes are chosen to bracket the threshold at which amplitude modulation becomes perceived as a new event versus an attribute of an existing one.

duration 31:08 twelve studies sine source, ADSR