CTM 2021: Apotome Artist Takeover – Deena Abdelwahed

A studio session performed with Khyam Allami’s generative music system.

In the latest in a series of highlights from CTM Festival’s 2021 online edition, we present an extract of a performance from Tunisian producer Deena Abdelwahed, created with composer Khyam Allami’s generative microtonal music environment, Apotome.

Apotome is a browser-based transcultural generative music system focused on using microtonal tuning systems and their subsets (scales/modes). The system was developed from Allami’s PhD research and collaboration with Counterpoint, a creative studio run by Tero Parviainen and Samuel Diggins.

The environment aims to highlight the biases present in modern DAWs and production tools, which typically prioritise Western musical scales and methods of music-making. In Abdelwahed’s performance, she uses existing Arabic scales and explores how they sound when she uses her own techniques and synths with Apotome.

Discover more on Apotome at the CTM website and try the system for yourself here.

Commissioned by and premiered at CTM Festival 2021

Shot together with Katarina Radić on iPhone
Edit: Best Films Forever
Supported by the DAAD Arts & Media Programme.