Recent Compositions

Heart Hz

The compositional core (heart?!) of Heart Hz is a sequencer designed in Max/MSP consisting of 4 independent MIDI pulse streams used to control a handful of complimentary instrumental voices. Pulse streams are sent to Ableton Live where they are quantized to a scale/range/sequence before triggering software instruments and sample banks OR are converted to control voltage and used to trigger notes/events on a modular synthesizer. The rate of each stream is mapped to a midi fader controller along with various other instrumental parameters (pitch range, sample selection, scales, articulations, etc.) thus creating a playable interface for performance. In essence, I programmed a network of relationships that I thought would lead to musical results. The process was a creative loop of designing, improvising with, listening to, and then re-designing (tweaking) this network in the spirit of finding musical and inspiring pockets and gestures. Once I felt I had sufficient ideas recorded, I edited, mixed, and in a few cases overdubbed other instruments in order to accentuate the musicality of the output.

Outflow

Outflow is for modular synth and ableton performed using a standard MIDI keyboard controller. I chose a standard MIDI keyboard as the performance controller because I have muscle memory and tactile facility with this layout and I was interested in transforming my ingrained keyboard gestural palette and muscle memory into something less predictable and more musically exciting. Thus, Outflow translates input gestures on the keyboard into different output gestures within the broader software/modular environment. At times, the keyboard input might function in a more traditional fashion (i.e. note input directly equates to note output on a software instrument, etc.). In some modes of translation a note input on the keyboard might trigger a succession of arpeggios and pulses that are then dispersed and interpreted in various ways throughout the modular synth environment creating cascading or rippling effects within the system (or different combinations thereof). These modes translate familiar keyboard input gestures into unfamiliar and exciting kinds of output, and by reacting tactilely to this output, help discover new types of keyboard performance gestures (input). In addition, the various modes of input translation can be modulated during performance. Responding in real time to this state switching leads to meta performance states that transcends any single state of input control, thus adding another layer to the input/output relationship. Discrete states flow together to form more liquid, unpredictable and exciting types of output gestures (outflow?) within the grander system that can then be responded to yet again in real time. The piece is an uninterrupted/unedited performance that epitomizes the sound potential (music!) of the above described performance system.