Anna Clyne and Jody Elff map the future of orchestral music
At the intersection of tradition and technology, innovation is often found. Composer Anna Clyne and sound engineer Jody Elff embody this spirit, changing the face of classical music through their groundbreaking concept, the Augmented Orchestra (AO).
Juliette Barber speaks with this husband-and-wife team to discover the challenges and opportunities they face as they push the boundaries of orchestral music
The Augmented Orchestra: An introduction
The Augmented Orchestra (AO) is an innovative approach to orchestral composition that seamlessly integrates electronics and technology into the traditional orchestral sound and composition process. Conceived by the husband-and-wife team of composer Anna Clyne and audio engineer Jody Elff, AO aims to bridge the gap between the timeless beauty of acoustic orchestras and the ever-evolving world of music technology.
Origins and concept
The idea for the AO emerged from a conversation between Clyne and Elff, where they reflected on the limited change to the sound creation format of the orchestra over the last 200 years. Despite the advent of recording technology, sampling and digital audio tools, the traditional orchestra has remained a “nicely preserved format”.
Elff was keen to explore a more integrated approach to technology within the orchestral composition process, allowing it to become a key component of the process rather than an afterthought. Clyne needed little convincing, keen to discover new parts of her personal creative life and expand the wider “soundworld” of the orchestra – “it’s like getting a whole new set of paints”.
Enhancing the traditional orchestral experience
AO enhances the traditional orchestral experience by introducing new sonic possibilities and expanding the sound palette available to composers. This is achieved through the strategic placement of microphones on selected instruments within the orchestra, which capture their inputs in real-time and process them through various effects and manipulations.
Clyne describes the excitement of “just having access to these new sounds”, explaining the process of positioning a microphone on a double bass to have its output pitched down an octave and creating subtones that resemble the sound of an organ. Similarly, a clarinet melody could be run through a distortion effect, giving it an edgy, electric guitar-like quality. These augmented sounds are then seamlessly integrated into the live performance, creating a unique and immersive sonic experience.
Impact on musicians and conductors
One of the key advantages of AO is that it does not significantly impact the musicians or the conductor. The seamless augmentation process means that “the conductor just needs to lead the music that’s on their score, and the musicians just play their music as it’s written on the page.”
The augmentation happens behind the scenes, with microphones capturing specific instrumental inputs and processing them in real-time. This approach allows the orchestra to maintain its natural flow and expression, following the conductor’s unique interpretation of the composition.
Elff emphasises, “we do not expect the orchestra to go too far outside of their comfort zone. We want it to be performable, and although the augmentation process can change an instrument’s timbre or range, we have created it to be as minimally intrusive and easy to embrace as possible for the musicians.”
AO and the compositional process
AO is deeply integrated into Clyne’s compositional process, shaping her musical ideas from the very beginning. As she explains, “it’s not something that’s slapped on at the end” (an approach that is often taken with electronics); instead, Clyne collaborated with Elff during the early writing stages. Together, they explore how specific musical gestures or phrases can be augmented or enhanced.
Elff describes their unique working process: “sometimes when she’s working on a piece, she’ll pull me into the studio, and I’ll listen to different sections that she’s working on, or different melodic ideas”. Other times Elff listens to something she’s written and picks out certain elements that could be augmented and brainstorms ideas for a specific “gesture on the piano”. This often evolves into a whole piece incorporating that one phrase.
The Gorgeous Nothings: Inspiration and process
One of Clyne’s recent AO compositions is The Gorgeous Nothings, a seven-movement work inspired by the poetry of Emily Dickinson. The work’s title is derived from a collection of Dickinson’s “envelope poems” – fragments of poetry found on scraps of paper and envelopes after her death. Many of the poems were incredibly evocative and were published alongside her original texts. These texts became the foundation for The Gorgeous Nothings, a piece shaped by the AO process.
The sonic landscape of the piece showcases the best of AO and the duo’s collaborative process. From the opening Prologue, their unique sound is showcased, with Clyne using a vibraphone to play a four-note chord which punctuates the text. The chord evokes a Tibetan bell-like sonority courtesy of Elff who suggested shifting the pitch down an octave and weaving the pattern across the composition.
PALETTE: Exploring the synergy of art and music
Clyne’s most ambitious AO composition to date is PALETTE, a 35-minute Concerto for Augmented Orchestra co-commissioned by six US-based orchestras (including National Orchestra Institute, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, and New World Symphony) and the BBC Philharmonic. Inspired by the interplay between colour, gesture, texture and light, PALETTE is divided into seven five-minute movements, each named after a specific colour: Plum, Amber, Lava, Ebony, Teal, Tangerine and Emerald.
For each movement, Clyne is creating a large 30 by 30-inch canvas, exploring the translation of musical ideas into visual art. As she explains, “I’m exploring the symbiosis between art and music and between the visual and the sound. So, I’ll write some music and then translate that back into the painting, and vice versa.”
The AO process plays a crucial role in this multisensory experience, with Clyne collaborating with a lighting designer to immerse the audience in a lighting design that complements each movement’s specific hue. “For plum, sumptuous purple; for amber, molten yellows and oranges, and so on”. The duo hopes that this project will truly push the boundaries of the sensory experience associated with classical music, augmenting the music itself as well as the physical surroundings.
Future plans and aspirations
Clyne and Elff have ambitious plans for the future of AO, keen to make the process more accessible and scalable. Their long term-ambition is for any orchestra or ensemble worldwide to experience the AO approach, without their direct involvement.
Whilst this may sound complex, Elff has a clear vision, imagining small AO “kits” sent out to orchestras with all the “essential components” needed to complement a score. The pair is also exploring the potential of integrating AO into other artistic mediums, such as dance and film. Although this has not been attempted yet, Elff is keen to explore the possibilities of a visual component alongside the auditory experience.
Additionally, Clyne and Elff are considering the commercial potential of AO, including the possibility of trademarking the concept. However, at this point they are consumed by “getting [their] heads around its potential”, with AO very much “in its infancy”.
Throughout their journey with AO, Clyne and Elff have found their marriage to be a significant asset, fostering a deep understanding and collaborative spirit. As Clyne reflects, “I think that the fact that we are married really gives us an opportunity to really dig into the process together. Jody knows my music very well, and we’ve worked on numerous projects over the last 20 years… so it makes for an unusually fruitful collaboration.”
As Clyne and Elff continue to push the boundaries of what is possible, they invite audiences to join them on this multisensory journey, where the timeless beauty of acoustic orchestras can be enhanced by the limitless possibilities of technology.
The premiere of The Gorgeous Nothings took place during the BBC Proms on 30 July, 2024 at the Royal Albert Hall.