Cutter

Posted by admin on April 18th, 2008 filed in I and I, music

Here’s an excerpt from a performance I did in Huddersfield on 7th March: schrimshawHudders.mp3 (8.7MB / 9.5min).

Here’s what went in the programme:

The performance makes use of a variety of open circuits into which the body and performance space can enter, activating a conductive auditory field. Gaps in home made electronic devices connect the flesh to the flow of electricity, the sonic properties of the performance space are drawn into the circuit and mixed with the material being processed by incomplete code which is developed and manipulated during performance. This circuit of interconnectivity produces rich textural sound fields which are subject to aleatoric and algorithmic decision making that provides a framework for the reorganization, manipulation and spatialization of sound.

I used a homemade crackle box as part of the performance. To prevent ruining my spine by carrying an audio interface and mixer to gigs (my computer is so old that it doesn’t have a line in) I’ve resorted to sticking the crackle box speaker to the computer’s inbuilt mic with gaffer tape. For anything else this would just sound awful but the ‘recorded through a crisp packet’ quality seems to suit the crackle box.

When I got to the gig two of the contacts had snapped. Luckily there was a leatherman handy to rectify the situation. One day I’ll get round to putting this on something more permanent.

It was a good gig in a recovered church which had fantastic resonance. The high point for me was Joseph Kudirka’s set using two cheep radios to receive and diffuse the crunchy yet rich noise being broadcast from his computer.