Celestial Messenger is the nom de musique of an Australian installation and performance digital artist, a sound designer and a composer. We have dedicated our long careers to the exploration of generative virtual reality as both instrument and spatial composition environment. In 2023, we embarked on releasing a series of four albums a year, two at a time, for seven years, each exploring a specific aspect of the triangular relationship between digital spacetime, coded generative algorithms and ambient music theory. We are based on Kirrai Wurrung (Eastern Maar Nation) and Wurundjeri (Kulin Nation) land in Australia.
Please email celestial at this website.
Celestial Messenger is one translation of Sidereus Nuncius, which was Galileo Galilei's magnum opus.
Celestial Messenger mostly compose music by composing self-assembling real-time 3D virtual environments, with samples as their basic unit of construction. These environments are the 'instrument' for each piece. Each time they assemble themselves, these environments are different, since we compose using a lot of aleatoric (i.e., chance-based) techniques. To actually play the music, either we navigate the environment in real-time, activating the sounds, or the environment just 'plays itself', or both, depending on the piece. In either case, the resulting music is equally reliant on 3-dimensional spatial positioning to provide dynamic information—volume, stereo position, pitch, etc—as it is on musical or sonic considerations.
This is completely different from so-called 'Generative AI' like ChatGPT and Suno. Music has a very long and rich history of using generative techniques. It has been said that while generative music and art creates something large, even infinite, from a small set of carefully chosen variables, today's Generative AI creates something small from a massive set of data. Perhaps it would be better called Degenerative AI? We don't necessarily have anything against this kind of AI, but we don't use it in our compositions.
We really believe that music and the digital were discovered, not invented, by people. Maybe "uncovered" is a better word. We participate in the becoming of that uncovering every time we listen to or play music and every time we use a digital device. But we don't need a digital device to participate in the digital. Using the digital to uncover new music is participating in a new unfolding of the universe.
Many of the albums on this website are best listened to via their 'infinite version', which are desktop apps which compose and play the pieces infinitely on the fly, in real time. The streamable or downloadable mp3 albums are usually captures of live performances of Celestial Messenger navigating the self-assembling environment from which the music emerges, although occasionally they are simply captures of the infinite version. If you have any questions about this, feel free to email celestial at this website
A microtone is an interval (i.e., a difference in pitch) smaller than, or different to, a semitone. Microtonal music uses notes different from the 12 notes found in conventional Western music (rock, pop, techno, jazz, classical etc). There are many systems of microtonal music, including most non-Western musical traditions as well as recent Western systems of microtonal (sometimes called xenharmonic) composition. In our case, we tend to favour a non-systematic approach, often using aleatorics (i.e., chance-based procedures) to choose pitch, like we do with many of the other elements of our compositions. However, our tuning and pitch systems are not always microtonal, we often use a twelve-tone system too, though usually this will be in the so-called just intonation.
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We're not very social, but you're welcome to email celestial at this website.
These recordings are dedicated to all migrants, immigrants and refugees, everywhere in the world.
Made on the land and waters of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation and the Kirrai Wurrung people of the Eastern Maar nation.
Always was, always will be.