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LaptopPerformanceinElectroacousticMusic:Thecurrentstateofplay

MMus

I.J.Algie

2012

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LaptopPerformanceinElectroacousticMusic:

Thecurrentstateofplay

IanAlgie

MMus(RegNo.090256507)

DepartmentofMusic

April2012

Abstract

Thisworkexploresboththetoolsandtechniquesemployedbyarangeof

contemporaryelectroacousticcomposersintheliverealisationoftheir

workthroughanumberofcasestudies.Italsodocumentsthedesignand

continueddevelopmentofalaptopbasedcompositionandperformance

instrumentforuseintheauthorsownliveperformancework.

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Contents

TABLEOFFIGURES................................................................................................................6

PART1WHOISDOINGWHATWITHWHAT?............................................................7

INTRODUCTION.................. ................. .................. .................. .................. ................. .................. 8SCANNER...................................................................................................................................13 HELENAGOUGH........................................................................................................................15 LAWRENCECASSERLEY............................................................................................................19 PAULINEOLIVEROS..................................................................................................................22 SEBASTIANLEXER....................................................................................................................25 LEAFCUTTERJOHN...................................................................................................................28 ALEXMCLEAN..........................................................................................................................30 DANSTOWELL..........................................................................................................................34 SCOTTHEWITT.................. ................. .................. .................. .................. ................. ...............36

JEFFKAISER..............................................................................................................................38 BRIANCRABTREE.....................................................................................................................41 GREGORYTAYLOR....................................................................................................................45 FOURTET.................................................................................................................................48 BEARDYMAN.............................................................................................................................50 CHRISTOPHERWILLITS...........................................................................................................53 HANSTAMMEN.........................................................................................................................55 CONCLUSIONS...........................................................................................................................57

PART2THEINSTRUMENT............................................................................................59

WHATAMITRYINGTOACHIEVE?...........................................................................................60

WHY?........................................................................................................................................62 HOW?........................................................................................................................................64 INPRACTICE..............................................................................................................................67 PLASTICITY...............................................................................................................................70 LITTLEMACHINES....................................................................................................................74 NTWICM.................................................................................................................................77 MT02........................................................................................................................................80 HOLDTHATTHOUGHT............................................................................................................83 COOKINGWITHKIDS................. .................. .................. .................. ................. .................. ......84SETINSTONE............................................................................................................................87 CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................89

REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................92

APPENDIX1PORTFOLIOSUBMISSIONANDPROGRAMMENOTES .......................................96 APPENDIX2DVDCONTENTS...............................................................................................98

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TableofFigures

Figure1Monome128.......... .......... .......... ........... .......... .......... ........... .......... ........... .......... .......... .......43

Figure2PlasticityOverview........... .......... .......... ........... .......... .......... ........... .......... .......... ........... ...70

Figure3PlasticityOSCtoLivebridge.... .......... ........... .......... .......... ........... .......... .......... ........... ...71

Figure4PlasticityiPadUI..72

Figure5LittleMachinesinterface......... ........... .......... .......... ........... .......... .......... ........... .......... .....75

Figure6LittleMachinesiPhoneUI........... .......... .......... ........... .......... .......... ........... .......... .......... ..76

Figure7NTWICMpatch.............. ........... .......... .......... ........... .......... .......... ........... .......... .......... .........79

Figure8mt02patchinpresentationmode......... ........... .......... .......... ........... .......... .......... .........82Figure9HoldThatThoughtpatchinpresentationmode.......... .......... ........... .......... .......... ..83

Figure10CookingWithKidspatch........... .......... .......... ........... .......... .......... ........... .......... .......... ..86

Figure11SetinStonepatch................. .......... .......... ........... .......... .......... ........... .......... .......... .........88

Figure12SetinStoneiPadUI..89

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Part1Whoisdoingwhatwithwhat?

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Introduction

Artistshavelongbeeninterestedintheapplicationsofnewtechnologyand

inonewayoranothercomputershavehadsomehandinthecomposition

processsinceCageandHillersearlyexperimentswiththeIlliacsuite.

Converselytechnologistshavelonghadaninterestinboththecreationof

soundandthecaptureofsound.(Roads,C,1996)Morerecentlythough,the

evolutionofthepersonalcomputer1hasmeantthatdevelopmentsinpower,

performance,sizeandpricehaveconspiredtocreatetheperfectstormfor

usingandabusingthistechnologyinaliveperformancecontext.Itis

unlikelythatanycontemporarycomposersworkisnottouchedby

technologyatsomepointinitslifecyclefromcreationthroughnotationand

ontotherecordingorliverealisation.(Dubois,L,2007)Thefurther

possibilitiesofferedbyactivelyengagingwiththecomputerasacreative

partnerinthecompositionandperformanceprocessesarepotentially

limitless.

Thelaptophasnowbecomeaubiquitoustoolfortheperformanceof

electroacousticmusicacrossawiderangeofstylesandgenres,fromthe

relativelysimpletaskofbeingasoundsourceforaperformerviatheuseof

softsynthsandsamplers,tobeingthesoletoolusedinamultimediaaudio

visualrealtimeperformancesetandprettymucheverythinginbetween.

1Whilstusingthetermcomputergenericallyhere,Ithinkinthisinstanceitmakessenseto

includeperhapsthededicateddigitalsignalprocessing(DSP)chipsfoundinembeddedcomputersystemssuchasFXunits

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Thefirstpartofthisdissertationtextexploressomeoftheartiststhatare

currentlyexploitingdevelopmentsintechnologyinthecreationand

performanceoftheirwork.Thelistisbynomeansmeanttobeexhaustive

andisreallyanindicativeexplorationofwhatartistsaredoingandperhaps

howandwhytheyaredoingitwithaparticularsetoftoolsinalive

environment.

Itwouldbefutiletoattempttolistallofthepossiblepermutationsof

creativity,hardwareandsoftwareandallofthevariablestherein,butthis

sectionaimstoexplorewhytheartistsdecidedtogoinaparticularcreative

directionandhowandwhytheirchosentoolsetfacilitated,orsometimes

eveninformedthismovement.Isthecreativeelementbeingdrivenbythe

technologicalpossibilitiesoristhetechnologyservingthecreativityofthe

artist?

Totryandkeepasuptodateaspossibleinthisincrediblyfastpacedarea,a

substantialquantityoftheresearchhascomefromtheinternet,the

blogosphereandwhereverpossiblepersonalconversationswiththeartists

involvedandpersonalexperienceoftheirliveperformancework.Thereare

obviouslysomekeytextscoveringimprovisation,compositionand

performancetheoryandpracticeandagreatdealoftheunderpinningideas

willstillstand,howeverthelasttwentyyearshaveseendevelopmentsthat

haveallowedartiststoexpandtheirpracticeinanumberofways,

sometimesquitesubtlyandatothersmoreradical.Forsomepractitionersit

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hassimplymadewhattheydoalittleeasiertoachieveandallowedtheir

workflowtobesimplified.Forothersithasmeantthattheyareabletogain

accesstoandutilisetechnologiesthatwouldhavebeenunthinkableinareal

timecontextuntilrelativelyrecently.

Thereareofcourseahugerangeofcreativetoolsavailabletothe

contemporarymusictechnologist.Someofthetoolsdiscussedare

commerciallyavailable,somearefreelyavailablethroughopensource

channelsandsomearebuiltand/orprogrammedbytheartiststhemselves.

Sometimesthesetoolsareinaconstantstateoffluxanddevelopmentand

sometimesthetoolshavebeenrefinedoveranumberofyearstoprovidea

clearlydefinedsetofcompositionalorperformativestrategiesand

processes.

IntalkingtoartistsIhaveuncoveredanumberofpersonal,financial,

technicalandphilosophicalreasonsforthemtoutilisedifferenthardware

andsoftwaretools:Iwillbeexploringthesetogetherwiththecreative

decisionmakingprocess.Theseapproachesreflectthenotionofthe

changingrolesofcomposerandperformerandtheconceptofthefinished

workversustheimprovisedsetthatthetechnologyhasnowmadepossible.

Thisresearcharosefromapersonaldesiretodevelopmyownindividual

environment.Ihavetriedtoillustratetheartistsoverallstrategiesforboth

compositionandperformanceandnottopromoteanyspecifictoolor

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paradigmofworking.Consequentlymyfindingshavepromptedmeto

exploreanextensiverangeoftoolsinmyownpracticewhichhasdefinitely

provedusefulinstretchingmyownideasaboutwhatconstitutes

compositionandperformanceandwheretheincreasinglyblurredlinemight

nowlie(asdiscussedinparttwo).

Itisinterestingtonotethesimilaritiesanddifferencesinpracticeespecially

wheredifferentmethodsandtechnologiescansometimesleadtosimilar

results.Forexampleapainstakingprocessofmicroeditingandmontage

(HelenaGoughorCarstenNicolai)couldbesimilarinfeeltotherealtime

improvisedperformanceworkofanotherartist(OvalorScanner).Thisis

notmeanttobeacriticismofeitherapproach,butmerelyanobservationof

howonoccasionverydifferentapproachescanyieldsimilarresultswhilst

slightdifferencesintheprocesscanleadtowildlydifferingoutput,

dependingcompletelyonhowtheparticulartechnologyisusedinanygiven

context.Forsomeaprocessmightseemlong-windedandcumbersome,

whereasforothersthisattentiontodetailisperhapspartofameditative

mind-setabsolutelynecessaryfortheaccurateinterpretationoftheir

creativethoughtsandprocesses.

Manyoftheartistshighlightthefactthatimprovisationhasplayedsome

partintheircreativeprocess,buttheygoontosaythatoftenthis

improvisationhasbeenrestrictedtothecompositionalorevenpre-

compositionalelementsoftheoverallstrategy,experimentingwithvarious

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treatmentsandmanipulationsoftheiroriginalsourcematerialbefore

committingittoamorepermanentform,orperhapsfinetuningamixor

automationthroughperformance,butagainattheendoftheprocessthe

workiscommittedtoaconcreteformfordisseminationorarchiving.

Thecontinueddevelopmentandevolutionofthepersonalcomputer,and

especiallylaptopbasedtoolshasgivenartiststhefreedomtore-purpose

theirworkintoalivecontextandgiventhemtheabilitytoextendany

improvisatoryelementsintotheirliveperformancework;forexamplethe

recentMaxForLiveproductfromAbletonandCycling74essentially

combinesMax/MSPandLiveintotheonepieceofsoftwarethatoffersthe

advantagesofboth,thetraditionalsequencingtimeline,thenonlinear

arrangementpossibilitiesandtheabilitytocreateaudioandMIDIelements

fromscratch.

Fordisseminationandrecordingpurposesthefinalproductstilltendstobe

somekindofaudioorvideofile(asisnecessary),butinalivecontextthe

artistismuchfreertoengagewiththeiraudienceinteractivelyshouldthey

wishtodosoandusethisinteractiontoinformtheworkasitevolves.

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Scanner

RobinRimbaud,akaScanner,cametoprominenceintheearly90sthrough

hisperformanceandcompositionworkusingananalogueradioscanneras

theprimarysourceofcompositionalmaterial.Listeninginontheairwaves

ofthethenburgeoninganaloguemobiletelephonenetworks,hewould

samplewhateverhappenedtobegoingonatthetimeofhisperformances

andthenusetheseconversationsasabasisforelectronicimprovisation

usingthesignalpathofthescanneritselfalongwithasampler,aneffects

unitandamixer,asthebasisforliveperformances.(Rimbaud,R)Thelive

inputwouldbeeffected,processedandoftenaugmentedwithacollectionof

pre-recordedelementsplayedbackfromthesampler.

Essentiallyaverysimilarsetupandprocesswasusedforhiscomposition

work,howevertherewasobviouslymuchmorecontroloverboththe

materialthatwasbeingtreatedandthetypeofmanipulationandstrategies

beingusedduetothenonreal-timenatureoftheprocess.Thetreatments

wereoftenmoresevereduetothefactthatanyprocessingcouldhappenin

nonreal-timeandthenbeplacedinatimelinewithagreatdealofprecision

leadingtoamuchmorestructuredrecordedoutput.Theuseofabasicfour

tracktapemachinealongwithasamplingdelayfacilitatedagreatdealof

flexibilityinthemixingofloopsandambiences.Elementswereassembledin

anavant-gardefashionafterRimbaudslong-termfascinationwithCageand

hismethods.(Prendergast,M,1995)

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Scannersfirstthreeself-producedalbums(Scanner1,Scanner2andMass

Observation)wereallcreatedwiththissetup.Theoutputhowevergradually

evolvedtoincludemoresoundscapeandambientmusicproduction,usinga

muchwidervarietyofsourcematerialashemovedawayfromthescanner

asthemainsourceofinputintothelivesetup.

Morerecentlyhisliveperformanceshavecontinuedtoevolveandarenow

runpredominantlyfromalaptopusingAbletonLive2totriggeralibraryof

pre-recordedsamplesandloops.(2004)Trackscanbeperformedusinglive

triggeringfromapreselectedgroupofaudiofiles,allowingforapreviously

recordedtracktobedeconstructedintoitsconstituentcomponentsand

thenessentiallyrearrangedandremixedonthefly.Alternativelyatrackcan

bebuiltfromscratch,selectingloops,audiofilesandevenincorporatinglive

inputandcombiningtheminanimprovisatorymanner.Inthiswaythe

laptopandLivesoftwarehasreplacedandextendedthenotionofthe

samplerinbothstudioandlivecontexts,givingveryflexibleaccesstoa

libraryofsoundsandlivemixingpossibilities.

Furthersonicmanipulation,andanelementofvisualperformance,isadded

totheliveworkthroughtheuseofanAlesisAirFX3unittoeffectand

selectivelylooptheaudiooutputfromthelaptop.Thislivesystemhas

2http://www.ableton.comLiveisadigitalaudioworkstationwithsomeinteresting

nonlinearpossibilities.3http://www.alesis.com/airfxNowdiscontinued,theAirFXallowedforthecontrolof

effectsparametersthroughthemovementofbodypartsthroughasphereabovetheunitwithoutphysicalcontact.

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continuedtoberefinedandhasbecomeincreasinglyreliantonLiveasits

core.

HelenaGough

HelenaGoughisanEnglishsoundartistnowbasedinBerlin.Herworkis

primarilystudiobasedandthecompositionalstrategiesinvolvedinher

workarefairlytraditionalinthewaythatpiecesareoftenproducedby

usingavarietyofprocessesandtoolstocreatethesourcematerialbefore

finallyarrangingtheminamultitrackdigitalaudioworkstation

environmentinnonreal-time.

Herworkisoftencategorisedbytheuseofmicroeditingandmicromontage,

usingverysmallelementsoforiginalsourcerecordingsastherawmaterial

forlongercompositionalapplications.Theworksarefocusseduponthe

collectionandmanipulationofrealworldsoundmaterialandthe

explorationofitsabstractproperties.(Gough,H,2012)Thismaterialis

usedinimprovisationswiththetechnology,inthefirstinstancewithouta

pre-plannedstructure.Thecompositionprocessgenerallyworksfromthe

bottomup,fromthematerialandtowardastructure,ratherthanthrough

theapplicationofapre-imposedstructuralidea.

Thereisdeliberatelynoattempttokeeptrackofthisoriginalmaterial

(unlessitistheproductofaninstrumentalplayersinputandcreditneedsto

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begivenassuch.)orhowithasbeenmanipulated,andsomeelementsof

sourcematerialmayberecycledrepeatedlythroughoutdifferentpiecesina

cycleofediting,layeringandmixing.

HermainstudiobasedcompositionworkusesReaper4asthedigitalaudio

workstationtooltoarrangeandassemblethesourcematerial,alongwitha

rangeoffairlystandardplug-ins.Havingpreviouslyworkedwithboth

NuendoandProToolsthemovetoReaperwasapragmaticonebased

aroundthecontinuedcostofthetools.Reaperoffersmany,ifnotall,ofthe

facilitiesoftheothersoftwaresystemsatafractionofthecostanditwas

becomingincreasinglydifficulttojustifythecostoftheindustrystandard

toolswhentheuseofmorecosteffectivetoolshadnoappreciableimpacton

thequalityofthematerialbeingproduced.

AbletonLiveisalsousedfromtimetotimeduringtheearlycompositional

stagestoenhancetherealtimenatureoftheimprovisatoryframework:

itallowedmetoworkinamorespontaneousway.WhenIam

stuck,IsetWiretaprecordingandplayaroundwithmulti-trackedblocksofmaterialandlongchainsofplug-ins.Usually

90%ofwhatIgetiscrap,but10%yieldsthingsthatareunexpected,orthatIcouldntgeneratesimplybyeditingor

mixing.(Gough,H,2012)

Thistoolsetofrelativelyinexpensiveandofftheshelfsoftwaretoolsallows

Goughtocreateacombinedapproachutilisingbothmoretraditionalnon

4http://www.reaper.fm/

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real-timestructuralideasandamuchfreerreal-timeimprovisatory

frameworkoftenwithinthedevelopmentofthesamepieces.Thenon-linear

elementsofLivearereallywhatsetitapartfromthemajorityoftherestof

thecontemporarydigitalaudioworkstations,beingparticularlyusefulwhen

incorporatingimprovisationalelementsintocompositionandperformance.

Manyalternativestiethecomposerstrictlytothelineartimeline,whereas

Liveallowstheusertoplaywithstructuralelementseasilyandexperiment

witharrangementandtexturalideasinafreeenvironment.Physical

controlscanbemappedfreelytoanyparameterofthesoftwareandthe

followactionselementoftheclipviewallowsforclipstotriggerotherclips

uponcompletion,withacertaindegreeofrandomnessifrequired.This

relativelysimplesectionoftheapplicationmeansthatsomequite

interestinggenerativearrangementscanbecreatedwiththerawmaterial.

Hercurrentlivesetupisquiteminimalandbasedessentiallyaroundthe

samesetoftools.AlaptoprunningLiveiscombinedwithamultichannel

soundcard(MOTUUltralite)andacommerciallyavailableMIDIcontroller

(evolutionuc33).Abankofsourcematerial,whichhasbeenorganisedinto

categories,canthenbeselected,effectedandcombinedconstitutestheraw

materialforaperformance.Studiobasedrehearsalallowsdecisionstobe

madeonaloosestructureforanyperformance,andthensmallsegmentsof

compositionsareusedasaframework.Thisgivestheflexibilitytoimprovise

transitions,shifttimingsandaddlayerstotexturesreinterpretingthe

recordedmaterialintoaliveperformancevariant.(Gough,H,2012)

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InthisparticularcaseLiveisusedbothas,essentiallyaverylargesampler,

andahostforaselectionofdigitalsignalprocessingtoolsthroughthe

VirtualStudioTechnology(VST)5systemofplugins.Liveallowstheartistto

deconstructtheirstudiocreationsandrepurposetheelementsintoareal-

timecontextwithhandsoncontrolofbothwhenandhowaudioeventsare

sequencedandtheirpaththroughthevariouseffectchains.Whilstinmany

waysthisapproachisverysimplistic,itisalsoaveryeffectivewayof

removingtheartistsfromaspacebartoplayapproach,somethingthatlive

laptopmusicisoftenaccusedof,andallowsrealengagementwiththe

elementsathandandpotentiallymorewiththeaudience.Itappearsthatin

somewaysthisisonlyreallyonesmallstepremovedfromthetraditional

playingoftape-basedpieces,althoughitoffersanumberofpossibilitiesin

expandingandbuildingonthishistoryandinthisrespectisfundamentalto

theevolutionoflaptopbasedperformance.Thekeyhereistheinteraction

beyondpressingplay.

Inthiswaytheperformanceisabletokeepoldmaterialalive(Gough,H,

2012)andbecomespartofacycleofdevelopment.Thetechnologyallows

fortheworkstobeperformedwithmoreofanelementofchanceand

edginess,muchmoreliketheexperienceofatraditionalinstrumentalist,by

buildingimprovisationandriskintothework.

5

Arecognizedstandardforthedevelopmentofsoftwarebasedvirtualinstrumentsandeffectsprocessors.http://www.steinberg.net/en/home.html

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LawrenceCasserley

LawrenceCasserleyhasbeenperformingliveelectronicworkssincethelate

60sinbothsoloandensemblecontexts.Thisliveworkoftencontainslarge

elementsofimprovisationandneededthedevelopmentofsystemsthat

were,andare,flexibleenoughtofacilitatethelevelofinteractionthatthis

generallyrequires.

Asthetechnologyhascontinuedtoevolve,sotoohastheequipmentthat

hasbeenusedinthevariousperformanceandcompositionsystemsthat

Casserleyhasdeveloped:fromtheearlyadoptionofanaloguesynthesis,

throughtheuseofdigitaleffects,eventuallysettlingontheuseofthelaptop

asamusicaltool.OnethreadrunningthroughallofthisisCasserley's

concernthatthecomputersystemshouldbeaninstrumentinitsownright

andnotjustanadjuncttosomethingelse.Thisisasubtlebutfundamentally

differentviewpointfromhowanumberofotherlaptopartistsviewtheuse

ofthecomputerasatool.

ThisevolutionhaseffectivelyfocussedonthedevelopmentoftheSignal

ProcessingInstrument.Thissystemwasdevelopedfromearlyideasand

experimentsatIRCAM6andSTEIM7usingatthetimecuttingedgeDSP

processinghardware.InitiallytheearlysystemusedtheISPWsystem,which

usedapersonalcomputertocontrolaseparatehardwareDSPmodulein

realtime.Thesoftwareusedtocontrolthissystemwasanearlyversionof

6

http://www.ircam.fr/?&L=17http://www.steim.org/steim/

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Max(originallydevelopedbyMillerPucketteatIRCAM).Thisworking

methodcoveredboththeworkCasserleyproducedduringthe1980s

designingdigitalsignalprocessingmachines(essentiallytryingtodo

somethingverysimilartoMaxplussignalprocessing)andtheearlystudio

experiencesofthe60sand70sthatusedaphysicalpatchcordparadigm.

(Casserley,L,2011)Whilstflexible,theseearlysystemswerenotreally

portableandliveperformancewasstilltimeconsuminganddifficultto

organise,requiringextensivesetup.

Abreakthroughcameasthepriceofthenecessarytechnologycontinuedto

fallanditbecamepracticaltousethesamedevelopmentsystemforaudioas

forcontrol:-MaxextendedwiththeMSP(MaxSignalProcessing)real-time

audioobjects,onaconsumerlaptopwas,andtoacertainextentiscurrently

thede-factostandard.ForCasserleytheinstrumentsthathadbeendreamed

aboutsincethe70scouldnowbefullyrealised.(Casserley,L,2011)Usinga

laptopandavarietyofcontrollersallowedCasserleymuchmorefreedom

forperformanceintermsofbothinteractionwiththesystemandhowand

wherethiscouldtakeplace.

Hissystemisessentiallybasedaroundvariousdelays,filtersandring

modulatorsthatcanbecombinedinanumberofways.Earlyonaconscious

decisionwasmadetousedelaysasopposedtoloops.Intermsoftheir

existenceincomputermemorythedifferenceisnegligible,howeveritdoes

forcetheperformertothinkdifferentlyabouthowtheyareinteractingwith

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thisaudio.Anexplicitrecordingmodemighthavebeendistractingfrom

controllingtheperformanceelementofthesystem.Thereisanimmediacy

andinevitabilitytothewaythatyouareworkingwithadelayasopposedto

aloop.Moreover,Casserleywaskeentopointoutthathegrewupinanera

ofelectronicmusicbeforesamplingexisted.(Casserley,L,2011)

Inasoloperformancecontextthesystemisoftenusedwithacousticinput

viamicrophones,forvoice,monochordsorselectionsfromacollectionof

self-builtpercussioninstruments.Withensembleworktheinputisthe

instrumentalmaterialoftheotherperformers.Inbothsettingsthe

parametersofthesystemarealteredthroughtheuseofvariouscontrollers.

OvertimeCasserleyhasmadeuseofaMIDIexoskeleton8,DrumKat9,

Wacomtablet10,JazzMutantLemur11andvariouskeyboardandfoot

controllers.Thesecontrollersallowforthesystemtobecontrolledinavery

gesturalwaywhichenhancesitspotentialinarealtimeimprovisation

setting.

Thesamesystem,oravariationofit,isalsousedforthedevelopmentof

installation-basedwork.MuchofCasserley'sworkfocusesontheconceptof

networksandjourneys,inbothametaphoricsenseandalsointermsofthe

audiointhepathwaysthroughthesystems.

8http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct06/articles/sonalog.htm 9http://www.alternatemode.com/drumkat.shtml10

http://www.wacom.eu/index2.asp?lang=en11http://www.jazzmutant.com/lemur_overview.php

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ThisfeaturesbothinperformancewhereCasserleymightforinstancesend

audiointoasignalchainandthenallowittotakeitsnaturalcourse,much

liketheideasbehindsomeoftheprocessmusicoftheearlyminimalists.The

audiofeedbackisthenusedtoguidetheimprovisationastheperformer

playswithandagainsttheresultantsounds.Thisisextendedinan

installationsettingwheretheprocessbecomesmoreautomatedtocaterfor

thealteredlisteningexperience.

PaulineOliveros

PaulineOliveroscametoprominenceinthelate60sasanearlyexponentof

tapemusic.Whilsttechnologyhasevolveddramaticallysinceshestarted

composing,thecentralthinkingbehindherworkhascontinuedalonga

threadofdevelopingsoundsthroughthelayeringoftexturesandalteration

oftimbreovertime.Earlyworkutilisedquiteminimaltools,originallybeing

basedaroundasmallnumberofvariableoscillators,whichcouldbe

combinedthroughasmallpatchingmatrixandthenfedintoloopsoftape

fordelaypurposes.Quiteearlyonthemeditativenatureofthismusicand

thepotentiallinkswiththerapeuticworkledtoOliverostheoriesofdeep

listeningtechniques.(Oliveros,P,2005)

Althoughverymuchbasedaroundperformanceinthesensethattheartist

hadtocontrolallelementsofthesysteminreal-time,thisearlyworkwas

necessarilystudiogroundedduetothesizeandsensitivenatureofthe

variouscomponentsinvolved.Themovefromusingpuresinetonesasinput

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tothesystemtotheuseofinstrumentaltextures,primarilyfromOliveros

ownaccordionplaying,meantthatrealtimeliveperformancehadbecomea

realpossibility.Whilstitworkedsonicallythisperiodofperformancewas

stilldifficultintermsoftravellingandsetupwiththecumbersome

combinationofreeltoreeltapemachinesrequiredforthetapelooping

elementofthesystem.

Amajormilestoneintheevolutionofwhatcametobeknownasthe

ExpandedInstrumentSystem(EIS)(Oliveros,P)wasthereleaseofthe

PCM42digitaldelaysystemfromLexicon.Thisunitmeantthatthetape

machinescouldbereplacedgivingthesystembothamuchenhanced

flexibilityandafarsmallerfootprintandweightfortouringpurposes.This

setupwasthecoreofthesystemforsometime.Asitgrewitbecameuseful

orpossiblyevennecessaryforacomputertobecomeinvolvedtoallowfor

thecontrolandsynchronisationofthevariouselementsalongwiththe

storageofpre-setsonasystemwidebasis.AMacintoshrunningMax(by

thistimeownedandmaintainedbyOpcode)wasusedforthispurposeas

MIDIwasausefulstandardacrosstheeffectsandprocessorsusedandMax

offeredaconvenientwayofinterfacingwiththesystemthroughthe

developmentofcustompatches.

Thecurrentstateofthesystemisstillbasedaroundtheseconceptualparts

butthetechnologicaldevelopmenthasmeantthatitcannowallhosted

effectivelyinalaptop.ThecoreoftheMaxbasedcontrolsystemisthere,

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howevertheintroductionoftheMSPobjectsmeantthatmostofthe

outboardequipmentcouldbereplacedwithsoftware.Theonlyelementthat

remainedinhardwareformforquitesometimeweretheLexiconunits.

Oliverosfeltthattheirwarmthandparticularsoundcouldnotbeeffectively

replicatedotherwise.EventhatthoughwentsoftwhenPSPdevelopedaVST

pluginrecreationofthePCM42unit12.(Oliveros,P)Itisnowincludedinthe

EISasapluginandsoconsequentlytheentiresystemisnowsoftwarebased.

InOliverosownworkthesystemispredominantlyusedwiththeaccordion

astheinputviacontactmicrophones(howeverthesystemisinputagnostic

andhasbeenusedbyotherswithavarietyofinstrumental,vocaland

texturalinputs)(2007).Thesepickupnotjusttherelativelysimplemelodic

andharmonicmaterialbutalsotheclicks,scratchesandnoisesthatcanalso

beusedastextures.Thecoreofthesystemisamatrixswitchingsectionthat

allowsforthepatchingofaudiosignalchains.Inputcanbesenttoanumber

ofmultitapdelaylines,tothePCMdelayunitsortoanumberoflooper

units.Eitheranin-builtlowCPUusageandgrainyreverbsectioncanbe

patchedinortherathermoretaxingbutmuchsmootherAltiverb13

convolutionreverbcanbeused.SpatialisationisbasedaroundtheVBAP

14externalforMax,althoughthisrequiresaminimumoffourspeakerstobe

setup.

12http://www.pspaudioware.com/plugins/delays/lexicon_psp_42/ 13

http://www.audioease.com/Pages/Altiverb/14http://www.acoustics.hut.fi/~ville/

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ThesystemhasalsobeenusedintheTelematicperformanceswithwhich

Oliveroshasbeeninvolved.Thisextendstheconceptofthesystembeing

usedtodislocatesoundnotonlyintimebutalsoinspace,extendingthe

focusofherwork.

SebastianLexer

SebastianLexercurrentlyworksasafreelancerecordingengineerand

programmerforinteractivemusicandmediasoftwareprimarilydeveloping

systemstofacilitateotherartistsdigitaloutput.Hebeganhisown

performingandcomposingcareerinamoretraditionalpianistrolebutthe

discoveryofthepotentialcouplingofinstrumentaltexturesandtechnology

ledtothelongtermdevelopmentofhispiano+(Lexer,S,2010)system.

Essentiallymicrophonescapturetheacousticsoundsofthepianoandthisis

thenanalysedbysoftwaretoreportpitch,loudnessanddensityinformation

forusethroughouttherestofthesystem.Thiscontroldataisthenusedto

manipulateandfurthertreattheincomingaudiotocreateafeedbackloopin

asense.

Maxanditsdigitalaudioextensions,MSP,areusedasthemaindevelopment

toolforthissystem.Thisenvironmentfacilitatesthevisualdevelopmentof

anacousticanalysissystemthroughthecombinationofcoreobjects.It

encouragesthedevelopmentofamodularsysteminwhichindividual

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elementscanbedevelopedandtestedindependentlybeforebeingcombined

intoacompleteinstrument.

Thefocusofthepiano+systemiswiththecreationofasystemthatallows

theplayertoextendtheirinstrumentandtechniquesandinteractwiththe

technologyinamoreorganicfashion.Insteadofusingonlythedirect

controlssuchasMIDIfadersandpedalboardstoinfluenceandchangethe

systemsparameters,thesystemmakesuseofanalysisdatafromthe

instrumentalinput.Thisrealtimeinputiscapturedcontinuouslyandthe

resultantdata(e.g.pitch,loudness,densityetc.)isusedtofurthercontrol

real-timeprocesseswithinthesystemitself.Thisfeedbackloopleadsto

quiteaflexibleandadaptivesystemthatisideallysuitedtofree

improvisation.Theplayercanperformwiththesystemfromtheirown

instrumentinteractingandreactingtotheaudioproducedinresponseto

theirinstrumentalplaying.

Againpartofthethinkingbehindthedevelopmentofthissystemisthatthe

laptopandassociatedsoftwarebecomespartoftheinstrument.Itisnotjust

aninstrumentbeingplayedthroughsomeeffects,butitisadynamicpartof

thetimbreandtexture.(Lexer,S,2010)Thedistinctionmaybesubtle,asif

theperformerwasplayingthrougheffects,thesecouldstillbeoperatedin

realtimebyadjustmentofthevariouscontrolparametersviaknobs,faders,

slidersetc.,buttheideaofprocessesbeingtriggeredbythesame

movementsandimpulsesthatarebeingusedtoexcitetheacoustic

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instrumentfeelsslightlydifferentinapproachandIamsurethatthissubtle

differencewillhavesomemileageinthepsychologyoftheperformer.

Theextensiblenatureofthesystemmeansthatitiscontinuallybeing

refinedandthatneweralternativecontrollerscanbeutilisedwhere

appropriate.OpenhardwareplatformsliketheArduino15havebeenusedto

furtherfacilitatearangeofrealworldsensordata,suchasaccelerometer

input,sothattheplayermightfurtherinfluencetheelectronicsideofthe

systembyvirtueofhisphysicalmovementeitherextratothestandard

instrumentaltechniqueorsimplyasaconsequenceofplayingtheirown

instrument.Thisrelativelysimplesystemcanbebatteryoperatedandcan

useBluetoothtransmissiontechnologies,soisthereforeflexibleand

transparenttotheplayer.(Lexer,S,2010)

Themappingoftheinstrumentalandsensorinputisopenandflexible,

allowingtheperformertobebothsubtleanddramaticintheirlinkingof

instrumentalplayingtotheacousticoutputofthesystem.Ultimatelythis

permitstheperformertofocusontheirinstrumentalimprovisationand

havethedynamicsoftheirplayingdirectlyinformthesoftware,whichin

turnoffersafurtherlevelofmaterialwithwhichtoimprovise.This

directnessofapproachfacilitatedbythecontinualanalysisoftheincoming

audiomakesforaveryflexibleliveperformanceframework.

15http://www.arduino.cc/

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LeafcutterJohn

LeafcutterJohn,akaJohnBurton,isanartist,songwriterandelectronic

musicianwhoworksacrosscomposition,recording,performingand

installationareasusingavarietyofinstrumentalandelectronictextures.

(Burton,J)

Muchofhisperformanceworkcentresontheuseofdigitalsignalprocessing

(DSP)systemswitharangeofacousticandelectricinstrumentsastheinput

source.Theoriginalinputsoundsareeffected,twistedandmangledthrough

arangeofgranularandspectraltechniquestoextendthesoundintime.

Theseoftenmakeuseofrandomandchaoticelements.

Initiallycompositionswerestudio-basedcreationsandthebulkofBurtons

recordedoutputstillis.AstandardDAWisused(ofteneitherApplesLogic

Pro,orAvidsProTools)toassemble,processandarrangethesource

recordings.Whenlookingforawaytotakethismaterialoutliveandmove

beyondthepushspacetoplaykindofmentality(Sellars,P,2002)Leafcutter

cameacrossMax/MSP.Somebriefexplorationdemonstratedthatthe

originalsourcerecordingsandassociatedeffectschainsandprocessescould

bequiteeasilyrecombinedusingthissoftwareallowingforthelivesoundto

belive.Improvisationisveryimportantandeventhoughtheaudiofiles

usedwereessentiallythemasterfilesfromhisrecordedoutputBurtonis

abletodissectthemandproducesomethingsoundingrecognisablewhilst

beingabletoreactwithmoreimmediacytotheaudienceandtheirmood.

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Thispotentialglitchstylegaverisetohisfirstsmallrangeofpurposebuilt

applicationsthatwerereleasedfreely.Theseallowedtheusertotakea

folderofaudiofilesoracompactdiscandhavethetracksalgorithmically

rearrangedbroadlyinthestyleofLeafcutter.Basicallythetracksareloaded

intobuffersthatarethentraversedwithacertainamountofchance

controllingthespeed,directionandlooplengthsofaudiosnippets.The

resultsarethenpipedthroughaseriesoftimebasedeffectschains.

Theideasbehindthisexperimentwererefinedinthemoderatelysuccessful

Forrester16application.Heresimilarprinciplesareatwork,butare

extendedthroughtheuseofthevisualmetaphoroftreesinaforest.Afolder

ofaudiofilesisloadedinandarandomselectionofaudiofromthesefilesis

loadedintoaseriesofbuffers.Asimplebuttonispressedtocreatean

approximationofatopdownviewofaforestoftreesandplayispressed.It

ispossibletodefinesomeparameters,howmanytrees,howdenselypacked

theyareforinstance,butthefinalprocessisessentiallyrandomwithin

theseparameters.Anavatarmeandersthroughthisforestwithitsposition

affectinganumberoftheprocessesatwork(delaytime,reverbdepth,

granularparametersetc.).Themovementcanbeguidedbyclickingandor

draggingaroundtheforestorthesoundcanbelefttofollowitsownpath.

16http://leafcutterjohn.com/?page_id=14

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GroupworktakeselementsfromthesesystemsandallowsLeafcutterto

bothcreatesoundinanensemblecontextandalsototreatthesoundsofthe

othermembers.Thiscanvaryfromfolkduos(2009)ontoexperimentalfree

jazzensembleswiththetreatmentsextendingfromambientwashesof

soundthroughtospikyclickandcutglitchorientatedaudio.

Similarsystemsareusedinhisinstallationwork,suchasSoundTrapII17,in

whichcontactmicrophonesareplacedaroundaspecificspaceandusedas

acousticinputtoasystemofgranulartools,delays,reverbandspatialisation

beforebeingreleasedbackintothespace.Inallthesesystemsrandom,

chaoticandchanceelementsarepresenttoagreaterorlesserdegreewith

theinstallationsystemsutilisingalotoftheworkfromtheautomated

softwareapplicationstoproduceagenerativevariantoftheLeafcutter

sound.

AlexMcLean

AlexMcLeanisoneofaquitenewbreedoflaptopperformers,takingpartin

therathermachopursuitoflivecoding.WhilstsomeofthesystemsIhave

investigatedsofarhaveallowedthecomposertodeveloptheirown

compositionalanddigitalsignalprocessingsystemsitisarelativelyrecent

phenomenonfortheartiststodothisdevelopmentlive(Historical

Performances-Toplap),infrontofanaudience.Thisisprettymuch

improvisationwithcode,ontheedge.

17http://leafcutterjohn.com/?page_id=35

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McLeanisamemberofthevanguardofthisoffshootoflaptopperformers,

himselfbeingamemberofbothSlub,atriooflivecoders,andhalfof

SiliconeBake,aspam-popbandandaregularperformerandeducatorin

thisfield.

Intermsofthetoolsusedforlivecoding,McLeanisan(McLean,A,2004)

advocateofopensourcetoolsandprimarilyrunssoftwarebasedonthe

Linuxoperatingsystem.AlongtimeuserofUbuntu,oftenseenasthe

friendlyfaceofLinux,heswitchedtoaspecialistaudiovisualdistribution

knowasPureDyneasUbuntubecamemoreconsumerorientedand

problemswithaudiodriversbegantomanifestthemselves.Thisparticular

distributioncomesasstandardwitharangeofaudioandvisual

environments(SuperCollider,CSound,Processingetc.)andcanbeinstalled

asalivesystemfromaCD/DVDorUSBmemorystickmakingitauseful

variantforworkshopsandperformancesifamachineshouldmalfunction,

aswellasadedicatedoperatingsysteminstall.

McLeansearlyexperimentswerebasedinthePerllanguage,ageneral

purposeinterpretedprogramminglanguagewithovertwentyyearsof

development.Therearenowagreatnumberofvariationsinthetoolsthat

livecodersusewithsomepreferringthealreadyestablishedlanguageswith

amusicoraudioslantsuchasSuperColliderorPureData,butmoreand

morecodersaremovingtowardsmuchmoregeneralpurposecomputer

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languagesandcouplingthosewithaudioandMIDIlibrariestoachievetheir

goals.TheseearlyPerlbasedpieces,whilstlive,wereprimarilybased

aroundacollectionofprebuiltscriptsthatcouldbelaunchedsequentially

andcombinedtoproducemusicalphrasesandrhythms.(Mclean,A,2004)

Whilstthisobviouslyshowedthedirectionoftheartistsitwasntquiteyet

livecoding.

Theperformancesystemcontinuedtoevolve,andinfactstilldoesanda

landmarkofthesystembecomingtrulylivecodingwastheartistsswitchto

theHaskellprogramminglanguage.Althoughageneralpurposecomputer

languagesomeofitsfeatureswereobviouslyadrawtoMcLeanandit

becametheprimaryfront-endforhislivecodingexploitscommunicating

withSuperColliderfortheaudiogenerationunderthehoodviaOpenSound

Control(OSC).Thiswasnecessaryasmostgeneralpurposeprogramming

languagesthatmayhaveanynumberoffeaturesrelevanttomusiccreation

andthepatternelementsrequiredoflivecodingoftenhaveveryconvoluted

methodsofaccessinglibrariesforcreatingtheactualaudiopartofthe

process,whereasSuperColliderwasdesignedfromthegroundupforjust

thispurposewiththeaudiogenerationandprogrammingelements

separated.Inthiswayanyprogramminglanguagecanmakeuseoftheaudio

enginebysendingproperlyformattedOSCmessagestoit.

Intermsofperformanceithasbecomecommonplacefortheartiststo

projecttheirscreeninthevenue,theaudiencecanthenfollowalongwith

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theaction.Therecontinuestobesomeuncertaintyastowhetherthisisa

goodcourseofaction.Withitnotthereyouarereallyjustwatchinga

performerwatchalaptop,whichisprobablynotallthatengaging.Some

membersoftheaudiencemaybeproficientincodeandsothereforeenjoy

watchingtheprogramunfoldandlisteningtotheeffectivesonificationofthe

text.Forotherswhodontunderstandthecodeitisproofifanywereneeded

thattheartistisactuallydoingsomethingotherthanperhapssimply

checkingtheiremail!

McLeansapproachcontinuestoberefinedandmorerecentlyhehas

developedapurpose-builtlivecodingenvironmentusingHaskell18called

Tidal(McLean,A,2010a)thatallowstheperformermorefinegrained

controlandatighterfocusonthepurelymusicalelementsofanycode.This

isstillacommandlinebasedapplication,asaremanyofthelivecodingtools,

butthetextusedismoreaccessibleandreadilyunderstoodbymusicians

andpotentiallytheaudienceaswellasbeingquickerandmoreefficientto

developinalivecontextfortheartist.

Thiscontinuingdevelopmentofthetoolshasalsoseenexperimentation

withavisualoverlayfortheTidal19systemcalledTexture(oftensimply

Text).Thisenvironmentcallstomindthevisualobjectandconnection

paradigmusedinPureDataandMax/MSPalthoughitisapproachedfroma

18

http://www.haskell.org/haskellwiki/Haskell19http://yaxu.org/tidal/

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slightlydifferentangle,inthattheproximityoftheelementsusedtakesona

significancewithinthesystem.

InthespiritoftheopensourcecommunityallofthetoolsthatMcLeanhas

developedarereleasedforotherartistsandlivecoderstousefreelyintheir

ownwork.

DanStowell

DanStowellisanothermemberoftherapidlygrowinglivecoding

community.Anotheruserofprimarilyopensourcedtools,themain

environmentofchoiceforhislivecodingperformancesisSuperCollider.

SuperColliderwasitselfdevelopedfromaclosedsourceapplicationbyone

individualwhothendecidedtogiveitawayforfreewhenhewasnolonger

abletomaintainitsdevelopmenteffectivelyandopensourcedthecodeto

allowotherstogrowandevolvethesystem.Thishasreallyseenthegrowth

andadoptionofSuperColliderasanenvironmentforcompositionand

performanceamongstcomposersandsonicartists.Ithasalsobecomeawell

knowntoolinlivecodingcircles.

Stowellsapproachtolivecodingissubtlydifferentfromthatoftheprevious

artistsdiscussed.Thecodingisthere,theprojectionofhislaptopscreenis

therebuttheactualperformanceseeshimprovidingaudiomaterialtohis

systemsthroughhumanbeatboxing.Thisvocalinputisusedasloopsand

singlehitsingenerativesequencesthatareguidedbythelivecode.Whilstin

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somewaysthisdifferenceisquitesubtleintheperformanceIwitnessedthis

hadmuchmoreimpactthanlookingatjustthecode.Ifoundthissimpleact

muchmoreengagingfortheaudience,muchmoreofaperformancefroma

personalpointofview.

Theuseofbeatboxinghasanotherimpactontheperformancealongsidethe

theatrical.Theuseofvocalsoundsasinputtothesystemgivesanaltogether

differentsoundtothecombinationoftexturesandtonesoneoftenhearsin

livecodingshows.Theorganisationofthesoundsremainssimilarthough.A

lotoftheenvironmentsusedseemtoencourageorfacilitateavery

sequencedsound.Thereisnothinginherentlywrongwiththisofcourseand

itismerelyanobservationthatmuchofthelivecodingIhavepersonally

witnessedhasbeenalongthelinesofminimaltechno.

OneofthemaindrawsofStowelltoSuperCollideristheextensibilityoffered

bythesystemandindeedhehaswrittenachapteroftherecent

SupercolliderbookondoingjustthatandextendingthebaseSuperCollider

bydevelopingyourownUGens.(Stowell,D,2011)Thisfacilityallowsthe

artist,shouldtheydesireandbecapableofdoing,tocreatemodulesforthe

mainprogram.Thesecouldbeareplicationofadrummachineforinstance,

orjustanelementofthat,sayacrashcymbal.Smallerunitsareprobably

goingtobemoreeffectivehereastheycanmoreeasilybecombined.It

wouldbedifficultforinstancegetatthoseindividualdrumsoundsifthey

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hadbeenhardcodedintoafulldrummachine,whereasanynumberof

sequencingelementscouldaddresstheindividualsoundsmuchmoreeasily.

ScottHewitt

ScottHewittisthelastofthelivecodersIwillbediscussingHisgeneral

approachissimilar;howeverthereacoupleofvariationsthatmakeHewitt

aninterestingcasestudy.

Whilstagreatmanyprogramminglanguageshavebeenexploredbylive

coders,somegeneralpurposeandsomewithspecialismsleaningtowards

livecoding,Hewittismakinguseofasystemquiterecentlydevelopedand

withaparticularfocusinthemodificationofcodeontheflymakingitan

idealcontenderforlivecodingwork.

ChucK20wasdeveloped(andisstilldeveloping)atPrincetonasanewaudio

programminglanguageforrealtimecompositionandperformance.Hewitt

arrivedatChucKafterworkingforsomeyearswithMax/MSPandnowuses

itastheprimarytoolforlivecodingperformances.(Hewitt,S,2011)For

HewitttheswitchfromthegraphicalpatchingparadigmofMax/MSPtoa

purelycodebasedenvironmentofferedamuchclearerprogramming

method.Whilstpatchingallowsforrapidprototypinganditisoftenmuch

quickertoactuallybuildsomethingusable,therereachesapointwhere

20http://chuck.cs.princeton.edu/

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systemscanbecomeunwieldyanddifficulttoextendordevelopfurther

withoutagreatdealofwork,whereasatextbasedenvironmentsuchas

ChucKcanmakethismucheasier.ForexamplemakingaMax/MSPpatch

functionpolyphonicallycanbequitecumbersome.WithinChuckitisgreatly

simplifiedbysimplycallingafunctionrepeatedly.

Hewittisalsopartofanotherlaptopperformancedevelopment,thelaptop

orchestra.Thecollectiveperformanceoflaptopartistsisgainingsome

momentumincertaincircles.Acoupleofthemorepublicensemblesarethe

StanfordLaptopOrchestra(SLORK)21andthePrincetonLaptopOrchestra

(PLORK)22andfortheseinstitutionsitisprovingausefulteachingaidas

wellasaperformanceoutlet.(Wang,Getal.,2008)ChucKwasdeveloped

alongsidethePLORKensembleandisusedasthemainsoftwareplatform.

Possiblybecauseofthefinancestheycurrentlyenjoy,someofthese

Americanacademicbasedorchestrasseemtohaveaccesstobetter

resourcesandareoftenquiteprescriptiveaboutthehardwareandsoftware

toolstobeused,withsomedevelopingandmanufacturingtheirown

speakersystems23toallowthelaptoptoradiatesoundasatraditional

musicalinstrumentmight.Hownecessarythisiscouldbequestioned(are

theytryingtorecreatesomeoftheoldwithnewtechnology?)howeveritis

oneoftheiraestheticgoalstoachievethis.HereintheUK,inmyexperience,

theseensemblestendtobealittlebitmoreDIYandHeathRobinsonin

theirapproach,althoughnolesscommittedtowhattheyaredoing.The

21http://slork.stanford.edu/22

http://plork.cs.princeton.edu/23http://silvertone.princeton.edu/~skot/plork/delorean/

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HuddersfieldLaptopOrchestra24(establishedin2008andcurrently

directedbyHewitt)isdeliberatelylo-fiincontrast.Themembersarenot

tiedtoanyspecificsoftwareorhardware(althoughHewittissomewhatof

anambassadorforChucK)andperformersusewhatevertheyfeelcanbest

representtheirgoals.

Theseensemblesvaryinsizeandwhilstworkscreatedforthemarenot

necessarilycodedlivethereisoftenanelementofrealtimeinteractionwith

thecodethatiscreatingtheeventualaudiooutputthroughtheuseof

variousphysicalandnonphysicalcontrollersthatareavailableformapping

purposes.

JeffKaiser

JeffKaiserisacomposerandimproviserwhousestechnologytoextend,

manipulateandtreattheinstrumentalsoundofthetrumpetthroughouthis

work.Forquitesometimethesystemofsoundmodifiersusedwasbased

completelyonhardwaredevices.Anumberofrackunitsandguitareffect

typeboxescomprisingdelays,distortions,ringmodulationetc.werelinked

throughatraditionalmixerandwherepossibletweakedinrealtimeto

effectthetrumpettones.Whilstthissetupwaseffectiveandofferedagreat

dealofsonicmanipulationpossibilities,itwascumbersometosetupand

meantthattouringwasasmuchanexerciseinphysicalfitnessasitwas

artisticexpression.AfterseeingotherperformerssetupsKaiserdecidedto

24http://helo.ablelemon.co.uk/doku.php

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moveawayfromdedicatedhardwareandtowardsthecontinuedflexibility

ofasoftwarebasedsystem.Max/MSPbecamethetoolofchoiceforthis,

primarilybecausefriendsandperformancepartnerswerealreadyusingthis

systemandsoasourceofeducationwasreadilyontap.

TheevolutionofthesystembeganbyusingMax/MSPprimarilyasahostfor

arangeofVSTpluginsthatreplacedoremulatedtheirhardware

counterparts.Thehardwarecomponentswereessentiallynowjustthe

laptopandasoundcardwiththesignalchainbeingsimplytrumpetinto

microphoneintothecomputer.Inonefellswoopanumberofpedals,effects,

patchcordsandpowersupplieshadbeenreplaced.Howeverwhilstthe

simplicityofsetupandoperationhadbeengreatlysimplifiedtherewere

nowthecomplexitiesofsoftwaredevelopmenttocontendwith.

Astheartistbecamemoreproficientwiththesoftware,thedevelopmentof

amoreindividualperformanceinstrumentbegan.TheVSTsthathad

replacedthehardwareunitswerenowinturnreplacedbydedicated

modulesthatofferedincreasedflexibilityandcontrol.Theprimaryelement

ofKaisersperformancesystemistheKaiserLooper.Fourrecordable

bufferstakeinaudioandallowforthecontrolofspeedanddirectionduring

playbackwiththefacilityforconstrainedrandomelementstoscrubthrough

theloop.Thisscrubbingfacilitatestheintroductionofarhythmicelementto

actasacounterpointtoatextureofambientlayersthatcaneasilybebuilt

upusingtheloopersystem.Kaisersliveworkisprimarilybasedaround

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improvisationandthisloopersystemfacilitatesthebuildupoflayersin

combinationandcontrastquitestraightforwardly.

IntermsofhardwarecontrolKaiserhasbeenalongtimeadvocateofusing

cheapoff-the-shelfMIDIorUSBcontrollerswhereverpossible,rationalising

thatinhisviewequipmentlikethisneedstobeeasilyreplaceablewhenon

tour.TofurtherpromotethesmallisbeautifultouringaestheticKaiseralso

usesaninterestingdoublingupideaforimplementingacontinuousfoot

controllerthroughtheuseofaspareinputoutputpaironasoundcard.

(Kaiser,J,2007)

Likemanyofthesetoolsthesystemisinaconstantstateofevolution.

Althoughthisslowsastheperformersettlesonaworkingmethod,therewill

alwaysbenewtechnologicaldevelopmentthatmightbeworthyof

investigation.IntermsofKaiserssystemtwoofthesearetheintroduction

ofMaxforLiveandtheMacmillanSoftStepcontroller.M4Lhasmeantthat

theKaiserLoopersystemcanbeintegratedintoAbletonLive,whichopens

upthedoorsfortheeasyinclusionofmoretraditionalsequencing

techniquesandaveryflexiblesoftwaremixer.TheSoftSteplooksverymuch

likeanyotherfootcontrolleratfirstglance,howeveraswellasactingas

simpleswitchesthebuttonsarebothpressureanddirectionsensitive.This

meansthatanybuttoncanoutputcontinuouscontrolchanges(uptofiveat

atime)aswellassimpledigitalselections.TheMacMillancompanywho

producetheunitalsoprovideaMaxdevelopmentkit.Asastandaloneunitit

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outputsserialinformationoverUSBwhichcanbeconvertedtotheMIDI

controlprotocolthroughasecondaryunit.TheMaxdevelopmentkitthough

providesaMaxobjectwhichreadstheserialinformationdirectlyandallows

theprogrammertoconverttherawserialinformationtoMIDI,OSCor

directlycontrolotheraudiovisualMaxobjectsofferingaveryflexible

system.

BrianCrabtree

BrianCrabtreecomposesandperformsunderthealiasofTehn.Hisworkis

primarilydirectedtowardstheglitchyendofambientelectronicaconsisting

essentiallyofminimaltechnoandclicksandcutsusingloopsandmicro

loops.Heusesexclusivelyanumberofself-designedandbuilthardwareand

softwaresystemsforboththegenerationandrealtimecontrolofsound.

Theintegrationofthehardwareandsoftwareelementsisverytightand

whilsttheycanbeusedseparatelytheyoftenmakemuchmoresenseandin

somecasesonlyfunctionfullywhenincombination.

AgainMax/MSPisthemaindevelopmentenvironmentforthesoftwareside

ofthings.Theartisthasdevelopedanumberofpatchesdealingmainlywith

sequencingandsamplemangling(flin,64step).Howeverforlive

performanceitistheMLR25systemthatappearstoofferthemostflexibility

andbethegotoapplication.Anumberofbuffersarefilledwitheither

precomposedloopedmaterialorfromliveinputfromavarietyof

25http://docs.monome.org/doku.php?id=app:mlr

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instrumentalsources.Thisselectionofloopscanthenbechopped,sliced

andrecombinedinrealtimeinaveryflexiblemanner.Theloopscanbe

slicedagainstarhythmicgridtoretaintheirrelativetimingorinamoread-

hocfashion.Thisdeceptivelysimplesystemiscapableofproducing

obviouslyrhythmicgridbasedwork,moreglitchpiecesrightthroughtoless

obviouslyrhythmicalmostambienttextures.

Whilstthesoftwaresideoftheperformancesystemisflexibleandusefulthe

hardwaresideisofparticularinterestinthatwhilstitwasdevelopedbya

singleindividualforhisownparticularworkingmethodithasprovedtobe

quitepopularamongstarangeofartistsandhasbecomeacommercial

productinitselfwithCrabtreeutilisinganinterestingbusinessmodel.

TheMonomeisaveryminimaleightbyeight(therearenowalsoeightby

sixteenandsixteenbysixteenvariants,seeFig1)gridofbuttonsandLEDs

thatoutoftheboxisunabletodoanythingandneedsasoftwaresystem

withwhichtointegrate.Bydefaultthebasicdriverandcommunication

softwareprovidesoutputintheOSCprotocol,howeverthiscanbequite

easilyconvertedintoMIDIinformationshoulditbeneeded.Thebuttonsand

LEDsaredecoupled,meaningthatabuttonpressdoesnotnecessarilymean

thatcurrentwillflowthroughanLED,andcommunicationistwowayto

allowforflexibilityinthedesignofuserinterfaces.Oneareafor

developmentthatmakesitselfquiteobviousisthatthegridlendsitselfwell

tostepsequencingandthereareanumberofpatchesavailable,fromTehn

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andotherdevelopers,thathighlightthisfact.TheRolandx0xstep

sequencingparadigmisusedmostoften,asthishasbecomesomewhatofa

standard,particularlyinrhythmicwork,sincetheintroductionofthe808

and909drummachines.

Figure1Monome128

Furthertothegrid,theMonomealsoprovidesacontinuouscontroloutput

throughatiltsensor,whichcanbemappedthroughOSCorMIDItofurther

manipulateaudio.

Thegridoflightsgivesavisualfocustotheliveworkoftheartistoften

allowingforthelaptoptobetuckedaway.Inthepiecesthereisoftenaclear

linkbetweenbuttonpressesandsonicresultsfortheaudiencetocatch.As

anapproachtoliveperformance,thiscanbesubtleorfundamentalandis

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somethingthatanumberofMonomeusersdo.Someaudiencemembers

haveaperceptionthatalaptoponstagesomehowmeanswhattheyare

seeingandhearingmightnotactuallybeliveinthesensethatitisbeing

performed.

FurtheringtheminimalsimplisticuserinterfaceoftheMonome,Crabtree

hasmorerecentlydevelopedtheArc.Whilstobviouslydesignedwiththe

sameaestheticinmind,itbothcomplementsandcontrastswiththe

Monomesstrictgridlayoutbyofferingeithertwoorfourrotaryencoders

whichallowforthefinegrainedandcontinuouscontrolofmapped

parameters.Againtheunitdoesnothingoutoftheboxanditsfunction

dependsonthedevelopmentofapplicationsthatmakeuseofthe

continuousrotaryencoders,whichofferrotation,clickorrotatingwhile

clicked.Onepatchthatreallytakesadvantageofthiscontrolisthetml(Tehn

microlooper26),whichagainisbasedonanumberofaudiobuffers.This

timethefocusisliveinput,whichcanthenbemanipulatedviatheMonome

andArcincombination.Essentially,asthenamesuggests,smallfragments

ofrecordedmaterialareloopedwiththeirspeed,directionandloopstart

andendpointsbeingalteredinrealtimeviatheArc.

WhilstinitiallydevelopedbyCrabtreeandhispartnerforaveryspecificset

ofpersonalperformancegoals,boththeMonomeandtheArchavebeen

undergroundhitsbeingusedbyanumberofotherartistsacrossarangeof

26http://vimeo.com/19039646

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electronicmusicgenres.ThebusinessmodelusedbytheMonomecompany

isinterestinginthatwhilstbothunitsaresoldasfinishedproducts,with

greenidealsandsustainabilitybeinghighintheagendathroughthelocal

sourcingofpartsandmaterialsetc.,theMonomecanalsobepurchasedasa

kitforselfassembly.Thisinitselfisnothingparticularlynew,howeverthe

schematicsforbothunitsarefreelyprovidedunderanopensourcecreative

commonslicenceonthewebsitesothatanyonewiththetime,money,

knowledgeandinclinationcanproducetheirownfullycompatibleMonome

orArcclone.Allofthesoftwareapplicationsandpatchesusedbytheartist

arealsoprovidedforfree,althoughtheydorequireafullMax/MSPlicense

tobeedited.

GregoryTaylor

GregoryTaylorhasbeenacomposerandperformerofelectroacousticmusic,

bothasasoloistandensembleplayer(PGT27)sincethe80s.Asanemployee

ofCycling74,Maxwastheobvioustoolofchoiceforhiselectroacoustic

compositionandperformanceworks.Themaintoolforlivelaptop

performanceworkistheapplicationRadial(nowdiscontinued)from

Cycling74,asystemwhichTaylorsharedinsomedevelopmentduties.

(Murphy,B,2011)Originallydevelopedbyjhno(JohnEichenseer)in

Max/MSP,itisastand-aloneapplicationthatallowsfortherecording,

looping,combining,processingandmixingofaudiostreams.Initiallythese

streamswerepre-recordedaudioloopsthatcouldbemanipulatedinterms

27http://www.rtqe.net/pendergartontaylor.html

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ofspeedanddirection,butalsobechopped,slicedandloopedonthefly

usinganinterestingcircularpaybackvisualinterface,hencethename.The

extensivemappingofMIDIcontrolisalsoavailable.Taylorsinvolvementin

theiterativedevelopmentofRadialwasinitiallyfacilitatingtheabilityto

utiliseVSTpluginswithinthesystemitself,addingtothealreadypresent

mixingmatrixandthebuiltinfilteringanddelayelements,andsecondlyto

allowliveaudiotobepipedintotheloopingsystem.Thesetwoadvances

movedRadialonfromarelativelysimplisticloopplayersystemtoamore

fullyfunctioningreal-timecompositionandperformancesystem.

ForquitesometimeRadialwastheonlytoolusedinliveperformancewith

Tayloroftentakingtothestagewithoutanypre-recordedmaterialatall,

justthelaptop,thesoftwareandsomenoisemakingdevices.Oftenthiswas

likelytobesomesortofinstrumentalorvocaltextureprovidedbyasecond

performer.Piecesthenevolvedthroughimprovisationwiththelaptopand

itsperformerbeingmorefullyintegratedintotheensemble.

Thesetupvariesslightlydependingonthenatureoftheperformance.After

manyyearsusingthetoolcertainaspectshaveprovedtobemoreorless

usefulineitherasoloorensemblecontext.Anensembleperformancemight

utilisefewerlooperunitsbutmakeuseofamorecomplexeffectschain,

whereasasologigmightbenefitfrommorelooperunitsbeingcombined

withlessrealtimecontroloftheeffectstotakecareof.Theseindividual

setupscanbesavedaspre-setsandthenrecalledandeditedeasily.

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Intermsoftherealtimecontrolofthesystem,Taylorsapproachis

deliberatelyminimal.TheonlyexternalcontrollerusedistheMotorMix28,a

bankofmotorisedfadersthatcanbemappedtoanyelementofthesystem.

Thefactthatthecontrolscanbemappedandremappedaccordingtothe

needsoftheshowmeansthatthisisaneffectiveandsmallfootprint

controllerforuseincombinationwiththesoftware.Allothercontrolisfrom

thelaptopskeyboardandtrackpad.Thekeyboardprovidesausefulsetof

digitalswitchesthatcanbeusedforthesimpletriggeringofloops.Thetrack

padontheotherhandprovidesacontinuousxycontrollerthatcanbe

mappedtoeffectmodulesandusedverymuchlikeaKaossPad.The

utilisationofthestandardlaptopinterfaceisperhapsasmallpoint,butone

thatpotentiallyhelpstoredefinethecomputerasaselfcontained

instrumentinsomeways.

WhilstRadialisreallyverymuchMax/MSPbasedunderneathitisa

polishedfrontendforaveryspecificsetoftools.Taylorhasmademuchuse

ofthisovertheyearsbutmorerecentlyhasreturnedtodevelopinginraw

Max/MSPasitwereforsomemorefocussedwork.Heisresponsibleforthe

BufferShufflereffectintherecentMaxforLivecollaborationbetween

Cycling74andAbletonandhasdevelopedsomespectraltoolsdirectlyin

Max/MSPforuseinbothcompositionandperformancework,forinstance

thereleaseTwoMapsofDanaraja.(Taylor,G,2008)

28http://www.cmlabs.net/motormix.html

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FourTet

Probablythemostcommercialartistsinthisdiscussion,KieranHebdenaka

FourTetisaproducerofmusicthatwhilstitisobviouslyrelatedtodance,

oftenhasmoreexperimentalinstrumentationandrhythmicleanings.

EssentiallytheperformancesareclubbasedaffairsandsplitbetweenDJsets

andlivereal-timeinterpretationofhisrecordedoutput.Manyartistsofhis

ilkwouldprobablyjustplaybackpre-recordedfilesandconcentrateon

lookingthepartwhereasHebdenismoreconcernedwithtakingchances

withtheliveshows,treatingthemverymuchasDJsetsinthatthe

performancecanfollowthecrowdmomentum.Ifatrackorsectionofa

trackisgoingdownwellthenitcanbeextendedanddevelopedonthefly.

InterestinglyagainforanartistinthisgenreHebdendoesntperformwith

visuals.Many,ifnotall,clubbasedperformancesfeatureeitheraVJ

performingorsomekindofaudioreactivevisualasanaccompanimentto

thesonicperformer.Hebdenseesthisasadistractionthoughandprefers

theaudiencetoseehimworking.Icanseehispointhere:insomerespectsit

ispossiblethatadditionalvisualelementsinaliveshowmaydetractfrom

theaudiocomponent,howevereventhoughtheperformanceaestheticof

laptopperformingisobviouslyevolvingcurrentlywearestillwatchinga

personwithacomputer.

Intermsofsoftwareandhardwaretools,Hebdenslivesetupisbased

aroundtwolaptops(althoughthesearereplacedbytwodecksforDJ

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performances)aDJmixerandaBOSSDrSamplesamplingunit.Thereis

nothingparticularlyesotericabouttheindividualunitsandeverythingis

deliberatelykeptrelativelycheapandreplaceablejustincaseofany

problemswhilsttouring.Thecomputersusedarenevercuttingedgeand

oftenthesoftwareversionbeingusedisnotthelatestrelease,Hebden

preferringtogettoknowanapplicationintimatelybeforemovingontothe

newerandbetterfeatures-somethingthatmanyofusareguiltyofand

somethingthatdeveloperstosomeextentneed.

OnthesoftwaresideHebdenhasbeenalongtimeuseroftheAudiomulch29

application.(Inglis,S,2003)Audiomulchisagainacommercialcomposition

toolandallowstheusertodevelopsystemsalongsimilarlinestothe

patchingfunctionalityofMax/MSP.Audiomulchdiffershoweverinthatthe

elementsthatcanbepatchedtogetherareofahigherlevel.Forexamplein

Max/MSPtoplayanaudiolooponewouldneedtocombineanumberof

individuallowerlevelelements,whereasinAudiomulchonewouldjustdrag

outaninstanceofaloopplayer.Inessencethismeansthatwhilsttheuser

losesaccesstosomelowlevelfunctionality,theprocessofdeveloping

customsystemsissimplified.

Thesoftwareisusedinthecompositionstageasanimprovisationaltool

beforetheresultingaudioisarrangedandmixedinamoretraditional

digitalaudioworkstationenvironment(ProTools),butalsointhelive

29http://www.audiomulch.com/

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performanceelementsofhiswork.Traditionallyoneofthelaptopshasrun

Audiomulchlivetocoveralloftherhythmicallyorientedloopswhilstthe

otherranCoolEdittotriggeroneshotsamplesandambiences.Thisis

evolvinghoweverasAbletonLivehasbeenintroducedintoboththe

compositionandperformancesetups.Theaudioisthenpipedthrougha

simpleDJmixerwithindividualchannelfaders,acrossfaderandsimple

filteringandEQ.AfeedfromthismixerissenttotheDrSampleunitforthe

livecaptureofloops.Thisissomethingthatcouldeasilybedoneinthe

softwarebeingused,butasHebdenlikestosticktowhatheknowsuntil

compelledtomoveon,thehardwaresamplerwithitssimpleinterfaceisthe

moststraightforwardwaytosampleloopsonthefly.

Beardyman

Beardymanisarecentconverttotheliveuseofthelaptop,inthepast

preferringtousethededicatedandwellprovenhardwaresamplingand

effectsroute.WhenIfirstcameacrosshimhewasworkingwithSebastian

Lexer(mentionedelsewhere)inthedevelopmentofaMax/MSPbased

systemtoreplacethehardware-basedsetupdiscussedlater.Howeverafter

acoupleofyearsthishasnotmaterialisedanditlooksasthoughthesetupis

evolvinginadifferentdirection.

Beardymanisaverytheatricalperformerwhoseactisbasedaroundbeat

boxing.Asanawardwinningbeatboxer(UKbeatboxingchampionin2006

and2007)hewaslookingforawaytoextendtherangeofwhatmightbe

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achievedasaperformer.Therelativelysimpleprocedureofsoundonsound

loopingwasastraightforwardwayofexploringarangeoftextural

approachesandtheKorgKaossPadsamplingandeffectsunitandtheBOSS

rangeofpedalloopersofferedthepromiseofasimplebuteffective

performancesetup.

TheKaossPadofferssomestraightforwardsamplingfacilitiesalongwitha

rangeoftimbreandtimebasedeffectsalgorithmsallaccessibleand

controllableinarealtimecontextthroughtheintuitivexypad.Thisallows

theperformertoeffecttheirvocalisationsinaveryimmediatefashion.The

BOSSrangeofloopersisagainverysimpleinoperation,stomptostartand

stomptostopandbeginplaybackoftheloops.Thiskindofimmediacyis

extremelyusefulforthesoloperformerintermsofkeepingthemomentum

ofapiecegoing.

Althoughthisentiresetupcouldberecreatedinsoftware,andasweshall

seeitisintheprocessofbeingso,thereisalottobesaidforthishardware-

basedapproach.Asabovetheimmediacycanbeextremelyimportanttoa

performerofrhythmicallybasedmaterial,missingabeatatanypointcan

reallyupsettheflowofashowanditcanbedifficulttoregainthe

momentum.Reliabilitycanbeanimportantfactor.

Somefeelthatthetimingofmorededicatedmachinesisbetter.Ihavenever

reallyexperiencedthismyselfanditcouldreallybepsychologicalandpart

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ofthestudiovoodoothatabounds;eitherwaydespitemoderncomputers

beingabletodoallthattheydothereisstillamarketformucholder

machinessuchastheAtariSTandtheAKAIMPCrangeofhardware

samplersandsequencersthatpeopleswearbyintermsofrocksolidtiming.

Theuserinterfaceprovidedbyapieceofhardwareorsoftwarecanreally

haveanimpactontheapproachofaperformerandtheefficiencyoftheir

workingmethods.Thiscanmanifestitselfbothintermsofsafetyinalive

environment,knowingwhatyouuseandusingwhatyouknowallowsthe

performertoconcentrateontheperformanceratherthanworryingabout

operationofmachineryandalsointermsofflexibilityofuseandbeingable

toreacttoelementsoftheperformancemoredirectly.

Whilstunderneathboththeunitsinquestionherearereallyjustcomputers,

thefactthattheyarededicatedtojustonetaskinevitablymeansthatthe

riskofglitchesorevencrashesissomethingthatdoesntreallyneedtobe

thoughtaboutwhereaswhenusingamoregeneralpurposecomputerfor

audiotasksthisisarealitythatneedstobefacedanddealtwithbothin

termsofpreparationandhavingabackupplan.

Finallyitisdifficulttoextendthecapabilitiesofdedicatedunitsinany

meaningfulway.Theydowhattheydoreally.Thisultimatelymeansthatthe

useriscompelledtoconcentrateonthefeaturethatmakestheunituseful.

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Thiscanhaveausefulsideeffectinthatquiteoftenthesekindsof

constraintscanforcecreativity.(Magnusson,T,2010a)

Havingsaidallofthatregardingthepositivesandnegativesofthehardware

approach,BeardymanrecentlyputoutacallviahisFacebookandTwitter

pagesforaC++softwaredevelopertoworkonsomecustomsoftware.It

wouldappearthatalthoughtheMax/MSPvariantofthesoftwarereplication

ofhishardwaresetupdidntcometoanythingitdidserveasauseful

prototypingprocessandpointthewayforfuturedevelopments.Currently

BeardymanisworkingwithbothSugarbytessoftwareandDMGaudioonthe

developmentofalivelooping,processingandmixingsystem,whichwill

ultimatelybeheadedforacommercialrelease.Asanartistyouhavetobein

acertainpositioncommerciallyspeakingtomakethiskindofdevelopment

viable,itisreallyanextensionoftheartistdevelopingtheirownsystemsin

anenvironmentsuchasMax/MSPandasartistsbecomemorefamiliarwith

codeithighlightsthedirectioninwhichelectroacousticcomposersand

performersmightmove.

ChristopherWillits

Willitsisamultimediaartistwhocombineselementsofambient,drone,

loopingandsequencingwithvisualsinhisperformances.Willitsstudied

withPaulineOliverosatMillsCollegeandsomuchofhisthinkingisalong

thelinesofthecomputerasatoolforextendingsomemoretraditional

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instrumentalresources.InthiscasethesoundsourceisoftenWillitsown

guitarplaying.

Thephysicalsetup30beginswithanelectricguitar,mostusuallyastandard

FenderStratocastermodifiedwithcustompickupsandaRolandguitarto

MIDIpickup.ThisallowsbothaudioandMIDIinformationtobeusedas

eithersourceorcontrolelementsthroughouttherestoftheprocessing

system.TheguitaraudiooutputisfedintoaLine6Podmodellingpreamp,

whichisinturnpatchedintothesoundcard.TheoutputfromtheMIDI

pickupissentdirectlytotheMIDIinputsofthesoundcard.

Realtimecontrolofthesystemismappedthrougharangeofhardware

controllersincludingaBehringerFCB1010footcontroller,Livid

InstrumentsBlockgridcontroller,andMAudioTriggerFinger,aDoepfer

FaderBoxandnumerousotheritems.Thechoicedependsonwhereand

whentheperformanceisandonwhetheritisasoloorensembleshow.

ThesoftwaresideofthesystemoriginallyconsistedofarangeofMax/MSP

patchesbasedaroundtherealtimemanipulationofbuffersanddelaylines.

AcommonthreadofWillitsworkishisfoldingtechnique,inwhichtextures

arebuiltupbyscrubbingthroughmultipleaudiobuffersatdifferentspeeds.

Theelementsofthistechniquecanbecontrolledmanuallyfromtheaudio

30http://cwillits.wordpress.com/2009/10/01/willits-guitar-setup/

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andMIDIinputstothesystemorgenerativelyseededfromotherinternalor

externalsources.

MorerecentlyhoweverthesystemhasevolvedtotakeadvantageoftheMax

forLivebridgebetweenMaxandAbletonLive.Thishasallowedforfurther

flexibilityinaliveperformancecontextandsimplifiedtheuseofMIDI

mappingandanytimelinebasedprocesses.

OftenWillitsliveshowsincorporatetheprojectionofvisualelements,ashe

isalsoavisualartist.Interestinglythesearealsofarfromstaticandvarious

elementsofthevisualpatchesarecontrolledfromtheaudioorMIDIpartsof

themusicalsideoftheperformancesetup.

HansTammen

Tammensworkisbasedprimarilyaroundfreeimprovisation,usingthe

guitarmoreasanoisetoolboxthananinstrumentalresourceverymuchin

theveinofKeithRowe.SimilartoRoweswork,theguitarisplayedflaton

thetabletopandthestringsareexcitedintomotionusinganynumberof

objectsaswellastheperformersfingers.Theguitarpickupsarealsooften

usedascrudelo-fimicrophonestointroduceothersonicsourcesintothe

performancesystem.

Theexperimentalguitarsoundsourceisphysicallytreatedinanumberof

waysandanumberofextendedplayingtechniquesareutilisedinthe

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productionofsourcesounds.Inadditiontothemoretraditionalguitar

technique,variousmallets,crocodileclips,mobilephonesandelectronic

gadgetsareusedtoprovideimpetustothesystem.TheE-bowisalsousedto

providesustaininggroundsandbedswherenecessary.

Thesignalpathtravelsfromguitar,throughvariouseffectpedaltypeunits

beforearrivingatthecomputerssoundcardinputandonintothesoftware

partofthesystem.HereagainMax/MSPhasbeenchosenasthetoolwith

whichtoprocesstheincomingaudio.InmanywaysTammensEndangered

Guitarsystemasitisknown,isconceptuallysimilartoLexer'sPiano+

systemdiscussedearlier.Aswellastheperformercreatingtheoriginal

soundsourcesthemselves,thesystemusespitchrecognitionandamplitude

trackingforthemappingandcontrolofeffectsandprocessesthroughout

thesystemandultimatelytheaudiooutput.Thisprovidesforaninteresting

feedbackloopofgenerativeprocessesthroughthesystem.

Abufferisconstantlybeingfilledtoprovidematerialforusealongsidethe

realtimeguitarinput.Thesystemrecordsandthenanalysespitchand

velocitytocontrolandchangethesettingsofvariousmodulesthroughout

thesystem.Inthiswayanelementofrandomness,orevenchaos,canbe

introducedintoimprovisationalperformancestowhichtheplayercan

choosetoreactinanumberofwayseitherfightingtoregaincontrolor

goingwiththeflowonasonicjourney.

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Thisrandomnessorfuzzinessisneededinanimprovisationaltoolto

provideconstantsurprisesfortheperformerandultimatelytheaudience.

Conclusions

Theartistsdiscussedinthesecasestudiesrangefromthecommercially

successfultothenichewithinaniche.Inmanywaysthesoundworldsthey

createhavealotincommonallmakinguseofdrones,glitchelementsand

sequencedrhythmicelementstoagreaterorlesserextent.Howeverone

obviousaestheticdifferenceistheincreaseduseofregularbeatsasthe

musicreachestowardsthecommercialend.Itwouldappearthatinsome

waysthesimpleinclusionofsomekindofobviouslyrepetitiverhythmic

elementoftenmakesthemostchallengingmusicmoreaccessible.

Untilquiterecentlythechoicesforselectinganenvironmentforlaptop

performanceweresimplybetweensomethingthatrepresentedthevirtual

studioparadigmordevelopingyourownenvironmentfrompatchesorcode.

Thepatchingparadigmoftenseemedtoappealtoartiststhatwantedtodip

atoeinthewaterwhilstthecodingapplicationsofferedperformerswitha

technicalbiasawaytofurtherextendtheircreativity.Asartandtechnology

continuetoblendIdontthinkthatthisisthecaseanymoreandtoolsare

becomingmoreaccessibleforall.

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AbletonLiveisagoodexampleofthiskindofdevelopment.Theapplication

founditsnicheinofferingatoolthatallowedforthelivereinterpretationof

audiomaterialinawaythatthetraditionalDAWcouldnot.Thecontinued

developmentofLiveandthecompanysrelationshipwithCycling74gave

birthtotheMaxforLivecrossoverapplication.Withthisgroupingthe

artistscancombineelementsfrombothendsofthespectrumandgoas

deeplyastheylikeintothetechnologyonaperprojectbasis.

Noneofthetoolsdiscussedpresentsanykindofstylisticbiasassuchand

choicesarebeingmadeonaveryindividualbasis.Someartistswillalways

prefertheimmediacyofacommercialproductandthesupportthatitoffers,

whereasotherswillfeeltheneedtogetunderthehoodandhavecontrol

overeveryaspectofthedevelopmentoftheiruniqueperformancesystems.

Inadditionforsomeartiststhechoicetogoopensourceisalmostalifestyle

choiceandnecessarilydictatesthetoolsthattheyhaveattheirdisposal.

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Part2Theinstrument

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WhatamItryingtoachieve?

Iamexploringthedevelopmentofthelaptopasaninstrument,oratleast

thebasisofacombinedhardwareandsoftwareinstrument.Therearesome

initialquestionsthatthisresearchrequires.Whichelement(s)areactually

theinstrument,isitthehardware,thesoftwareorthecombination?Canit

reallyeverbethesameasatraditionalinstrument?Howandwhatistobe

controlled?Howarechoicesmaderegardingthemappingofphysical

controlstodigitalprocesseswithinthesystem?

Oneofmygoalsindevelopinganinstrumentistotaketothestageusing

nothingbutthedesignedsysteminperformance,nopremadeloopsorpre-

recordedaudiofilesandstillsoundlikeme.Towhatextentisitpossibleto

usetechnologyliveandstillhaveanobviousidentityasanartistand

composer?Ihaveexperiencedthisasaninstrumentalistwiththeguitarand

alsoasanoisemakerwithfoundobjectcreatedinstruments.Free

improvisationandimprovisationwithinaframeworkrequiressomekindof

vocabularyofrhythmic,melodicandharmonicobjectsanditcouldtake

sometimetodevelopthisusingtechnology.

Thisinstrumentrequiresthedevelopmentofatoolsetthatallowsfor

elementsofimprovisationinbothperformanceandcomposition,real-time

compositionperhaps.Myworkofteninvolvesimprovisationatvarious

stages:mostobviouslysourcesoundsandrecordingsareexperimentedwith

invariousdigitalsignalprocessingsystems,stretching,warping,mangling

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sometimeswitharelativelycleargoalinmind,othertimesnot.Thesesound

objectsarethenplacedintimeorcollagedinadigitalaudioworkstation,

againofteninanimprovisatorymanner.Anarrangementwillbetried,ifit

worksitstays,ifnotthenanothercombinationisexperimentedwithand

thiscontinuesuntiladecisionismaderegardingthecompletionofapiece.

Whilstthereisnooverarchingworkingmethodorstrategyacrossthe

entiretyofmywork,itisthisnotionofexperimentationandimprovisation

thatpermeateseverythingtosomeextent.Myaimistocapturesomeofthis

andcombinetheactsofcompositionandperformanceusingthisunderlying

improvisationalconcept.Thevocabularyforthiswilldevelopasa

combinationoffragmentsofmyworkbeingrepurposedinalivecontextand

theremodelingofsomeoftheDSPsystemsIuseintoareal-time

controllableinstrument.

Currentlymycreativeoutputisbasedaroundakindofminimalambience,

encapsulatingcontrolledrandomnessandchaoticelementswhilstexploring

temporalandtimbralcomponentsthroughstasis,textureandprocess.Iam

aimingtocreateatoolsetthatwillallowmetousesomeofmycurrent

compositionalstrategiesinareal-timeperformativecontext.Thesystem

needstosomeextenttobemodularasIdontimaginethatnecessarilyall

elementswillbeusedatthesametime,butitmightbeusefultobeableto

pipedatafromonetoanother.Idonotwishtoprecludeothercompositional

ideasthoughandamcertainthatthesystemwillevolveovertimeto

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encompassnewerstrategies.UsingMax/MSPasthemaindevelopment

environment,asdiscussedlater,willallowmetohaveacoreelementthat

thenfacilitatesextensionboththroughMax/MSPitselfandtheuseof

externalobjects,butalsothroughanumberofotherenvironments,for

exampleSuperCollider,Chuck,CSoundetc.Thiswillallowmetodevelop

elementsthatplaytothestrengthsofthesetext-basedlanguagesand

incorporatethemrelativelystraightforwardlyintotheoverallsystem.

(Garton,B,2007)

Why?

Toultimatelybemoreinvolvedintheperformance.Ihaveexperienceof

fixedmediapiecesintheelectroacousticarenaandwouldliketocombine

andextendthistoincludemyexperiencesfromothergenres(asarock

guitarandvocalinstrumentalistandfreeimproviserusingagaintheguitar-

butalsoanythingelsethatmightbeathand).

Thereisanelementofreactivityandinteractivitywiththeaudiencethatis

sometimesabsentinatapemusicconcert.Theuseofspaceandthe

malleabilityofaudiomaterialisperhapssomethingthatistakenforgranted

asanimprovisinginstrumentalistandIfeelthatthiskindofflexibilityis

lackingfrommyelectronicwork.Iamaimingtotransfertheimmediacythat

Ifeelwithaguitarinmyhandsintoanelectroniccontext.

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Whilstthereisnothinginherentlywrongwiththelongestablishedtradition

oftapebasedmusicandIhavemyselfenjoyedmanyplaybackconcerts,I

thinkthattechnologyhasevolvedtoapointwhereworkcanbereimagined

inalivesettingandIpersonallyfeelthatthisoffersagreatdealofpotential

foraudienceinteraction,inthattheirreactionscanbothdirectlyand

indirectlyinfluencethecourseofthework.

Outsidethewalledgardenofelectroacousticmusic,oftentheaudience

requireordesiresomeelementoftheatricalitytoaperformanceaswell:

theygotoseeabandorartist.Thisinevitablymeanssomekindofvisual

elementtotheperformanceandcanrunthegamutfromthesensory

overloadofanarenadanceactsuchastheChemicalBrothersandtheirwall

ofLCDvideoscreensscreamingouteyecandyinsyncwiththefouronthe

floorbeatstothesensorydeprivationofFrancescoLopezandHelenaGough

whobothoftenperforminasnearcompletedarknessascanbeachievedto

bothfocusthelistenersattentionandnodoubtintroduceaperformative

elementbeyondthemusicandsounditselftodrawintheaudience.There

areofcourseanynumberofperformancetricksandtagsonthissliding

scale,butIthinkthatbeingabletotakesomecontrolovertheaudiovisual

representationofmyworkinarealtimecontextiswhereIamcurrently

aimingtobe.

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How?

Developaseriesofsoftwaresystemsandmoduleswithassociatedhardware

controllers.Thereareanumberofdevelopmentenvironmentsavailable

bothascommercialitemsandopensourceframeworks.

Iamaimingtomakethesesystemsasmodularaspossiblesothattheycan

bereconfiguredandrecombinedeasilyallowingtheoverallinstrumentto

evolvewithoutrequiringrewritesandrebuildstoooftenandhopefully

withoutsufferingfromfeaturecreepandbecomingtoobloated.Alsothe

separationoftechnologiesfortheHumanComputerInteraction(HCI)

elementandthesoundproducingpartshouldfutureprooftheinstrumentto

acertaindegreeinthatasnewtechnologiesbecomeavailableorthecurrent

onesareincrementallyimproved,againthesystemcanbeupdated

piecemealasopposedtostartingagainfromscratchinanother

programmingenvironment.

ForthesoftwaresideofthingsIsettledonMax/MSPfromCycing74fora

numberofreasons.FirstlyIalreadyowneditandamquitecomfortablewith

itasadevelopmentenvironment.Theflexibilityitoffers,coupledwiththe

graphicalprogrammingenvironmentsimplyjustsitsbetterwithmy

workingmethodandthoughtprocessesthansomeoftheothertextbased

systems.IdidexploreSuperCollider,CSoundandChuck,howeverwhilstI

wasabletogetsomeinterestingsoundsoutofthemIreallydidntfeelthat

formethiswasthewaytogoforthedevelopmentofanentireinstrument.

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ThefactthatMaxcanbeeasilyextendedbythecompilationofnewmodules

alsomeantthat,shouldIneedit,Icouldincludeelementsoftheother

programminglanguageswithinmypatches.Eachlanguageand

programmingenvironmentoffersitsownsetofprosandcons.Eachwill

forcetheusertothinkdifferentlyconceptuallyandthereforehopefully

developnewcompositionalideasthatstayingwithonespecificlanguageor

environmentwouldnot.BecauseofthisIwillnodoubtcontinueto

experimentwiththeotherpossibilities.

IfoundPureDatainterestingandamdrawntotheopensourceinitiativefor

anumberofreasonsandIcanseethatatsomepointIwillprobablymovein

thatdirection,howeverfornowthemorepolishedapplicationinterfaceof

Max/MSPmeantthatthecurrentsystemwillbedevelopedinthat

environment.TheMax/MSPpresentationmodeisessentialwhencreating

somethingcomplexbutuseableandPureDatadoesntcurrentlyhavethis