computermusicblog.com » Live Electronic Music

Fieldwork by Christopher Burns

evan — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:59:01 +0000

Fieldwork is a software environment for improvised performance with electronic sound and animation. Two musicians’ sounding performances are fed into the system, and analyzed for pitch, rhythm, and timbral change. When the software recognizes a sharp contrast in one performer’s textures or gestures, it reflects this change by transforming the sound of the other musician’s performance. As a result of this process, the musicians are not only responding to one another as in conventional improvisation, but they are also able to directly modify their duo partner’s sound by interacting with the software. Fieldwork emphasizes rapid, glitchy, and polyrhythmic distortions of the musician’s performances, and establishes unpredictable feedback processes that encourage unexpected improvisational relationships between the performers and computer.

Performed by Amanda Schoofs (voice) and Christopher Burns (guitar) on October 27, 2011, as part of the Unruly Music festival, a co-production of UW-Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts and the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. [1]

Sonic Space No. 2 – Iteration No. 6: Quartet by Michael Musick

evan — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 09:45:21 +0000

Here is the last iteration in Sonic Space No. 2 written in SuperCollider. This is a quartet written for Soprano Sax, Trumpet, Tenor Sax, and Tuba. The movement around the space was not dictated but instead came from the musicians curiosity to listen and play in a different position. Although you cannot see in the video, this space has 5 speakers and 3 microphones.

Sonic Space No2 Quartet 12.12.11 – Score [1]

What the Blind See by Aaron Einbond

evan — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 04:40:19 +0000

What the Blind See for five players and live electronics, Ensemble L’Instant Donné, commissioned by IRCAM / Centre Pompidou for the Festival Agora, CentQuatre, Paris, 2009.

Frrriction, an Album of Music from an Electrically-Augmented Drum Kit

evan — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 02:31:52 +0000

Frrriction is a live solo improvisation with the electronically augmented drum kit. The instrument consists of a traditional jazz drum kit mounted with sensors, contact microphones, speakers and bespoke software programmed in MaxMSP. The acoustic kit becomes the control interface of the electronics by using various machine listening techniques, resulting in a very direct interaction between the two sound worlds. [1]

Frrriction by Christos Michalakos

You can buy Frrriction by Christos Michalakos at bandcamp.

Flags of a Dead Ship by Matt Collings

evan — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 03:18:28 +0000

Flags of a Dead Ship explores the nature of the electric guitar and it’s use alongside digital technology. It also attempts to wrestle the electric guitar away from the aesthetics of rock music and as a sound source for various sonic processes.

The piece separates the acoustic sound of the instrument from the amplified sound of the guitar. It uses it creatively to explore the nature of the performance space through the use of room microphones, by sampling and re-playing strums of the guitars out from the P.A and into a feedback system which allow the resonant frequencies of the room to become evident. It also makes use of the whole signal chain of the electric guitar – from strings to the ear, by using the amplifier as an active part of the composition. One guitar amplifier is stripped apart and ‘prepared’ with various objects and performed by directly manipulating the speaker cone itself to produce textural and rhythmic material. 3 Guitarists play a series of chords, as conducted by the laptop operator which are processed in real-time through custom-made software in Max/MSP. They play continuously throughout the piece to create a constantly, hypnotic rhythm.