laptop performance in electro acoustic music
TRANSCRIPT
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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