I have made Kiran furrow her brow a few times when making aesthetic or textural requests when she is in the middle of something else. Of course there is never any actual tension caused by this, but it has happened enough times for me to notice. To me, there is very little separation between having the idea for something and hearing that idea come out; I pretty much just play the sounds I want to hear and it happens instantaneously. However, there are multiple steps in making small adjustments on the tech side of things, which really intrigued me. This small separation leaves a tiny, but powerful space for infinite questions, considerations, and thoughts to have before making an adjustment.

"abracadabra" isn't a PAT term

The more I work with Sam, the more I appreciate the work that goes into both carting gear around, hooking up all the parts, setting up the computer processing program and making sure everything works.  While I am having a blast experimenting with instruments I have no idea how to play, discovering sounds I can make with objects in my backpack as if no one's done it before, and regulating the playback of various streams of conscious thought I record, I definitely feel like a bulk of an interdisciplinary rehearsal with a PAT major falls on the PAT major, at least to someone who can walk into a room, lie down on the floor, wiggle around for a little while and then hop up ready to work.  As our rehearsal process continues, I'm getting a better sense of what tasks are part of standard practices and what tasks are significant undertakings, something that will hopefully benefit me as a participant in future collaborations involving performing arts technologists.

Embarrassingly enough, I can't say that I really know what it is that Connor and Peter do before rehearsals start. All I can see is that there's always so much setting up that needs to be done-- they need to plug in this pedal, turn on that machine, plug in the mic, etc. etc. It's really impressive how much equipment they need and how they can handle it all. Even when Peter and Connor bring just the bare necessities to school, set up still takes around 15 min because there's just so much to configure.

Blog assignment for SSS

In my group,

Spencer is primarily a french horn player.
Sydney is primarily a dancer and choreographer.

 Spencer uses his time to work on warming up is lips and practices his breathing.  He has been using his french horn in sort of a unrefined way, trying to "not make a good sound"  and also learn what is needed and appropriate for audio processing.   Sydney spends time stretching if she is going to move in rehearsal, and for most things she creates stimulating conversation about what we are practicing to help focus herself on the idea and point for whatever we might be working on at any given time.  We havent done much movement, so she has been hugely supporting our group in constructive and reflective conversation after we work on something, or experiment with an idea.

Across Disciplines

I see myself as a performer - in fact I have much more experience as a performer than as a music technician. What I've learned from Molly in Jeff isn't so much related to the general idea of performance, but rather specific details of their disciplines within performance. Jeff constantly blows me away with the incredible range of sounds he can produce on his instrument. He is also one of the most open minded performers I've ever worked with. Jeff thinks a lot like a composer, which is why he is such an incredible improviser. 

As Jeff stated in an earlier post, we are both really impressed by the sheer physical power that Molly exerts while performing. It's one thing to see this power from the audience, but it's even more impressive when you are right next to it. However, there are actually a lot of similarities between dance and playing a musical instrument. There is a certain level of body control and awareness that we all need! This is why both in music performance and dance, the concept of "warming up" into your body or instrument is so important. It's a step that can't be skipped!

Across Pineal Gland

If you're a tech major, describe to the best of your ability the nuts and bolts of the practice of the performers in your group; what is something about the daily work of a performance major that you didn't know about? Similarly, for the performers, what do you see that makes the tech person 'furrow their brow', what is the basic procedures that they go through every rehearsal that you didn't realize were such an important and time consuming part of their practice? Due Sunday Morning at 10:00 am

Being a tech major that also comes from a classical music background has been very unique in that I have an understanding on what it means to be a performer. Although I have never practiced percussion or dance,  all three of us can relate to warm ups, technique, form...and injuries. It's easy to forget how fragile the human form is, and if there is an off-balance, this can result in having to back away, rest and then get back on your feet. 
That being said, I am amazed by the versatility of both Carlos and AJ. Im amazed when I see AJ improvising on miscellaneous percussive instruments with perfect timing, and Carlos not only utilizing dance movement, but also integrating voice and percussion into his performance practice. 

Description across Discipline

This semester's work with the a Molly and Daphna have been incredibly insightful in their worlds. It's very easy to take what they do for granted in their respective art forms especially when I am unfamiliar with their preparation processes. 

For one thing, we all knew the Molly's dancing would require much more energy but we didn't realize how much time was needed for her to prepare her body for movement so she'd be able to safely participate in and contribute to rehearsals. She has incredible stamina and Daphna and I are always really appreciative of all of the extra physical energy she needs to exert in our rehearsals.

On the tech and composition side of things, Daphna has a clear idea of what is possible with technology as it relates to our specific project and talks on her philosophy of composition ties in deeply with her skills as an improviser. In many ways, she describes composition as improvisation that is slowed down, meticulously refined and then notated. This process has helped generate materials in which we continue to refine the choreographed and musically notated material in our project.

Molly has, on several occasions, expressed tremendous excitement when she hears new things from the violin and saxophone that she hasn't heard before. The recording process for sound effects from the saxophone was also eye-opening to those who hadn't heard some of the extended techniques (multiphonics, harmonics scans, multiple tonguing etc) employed in Jeffrey's improvisations. 

Description Across Discipline

If you're a tech major, describe to the best of your ability the nuts and bolts of the practice of the performers in your group; what is something about the daily work of a performance major that you didn't know about? Similarly, for the performers, what do you see that makes the tech person 'furrow their brow', what is the basic procedures that they go through every rehearsal that you didn't realize were such an important and time consuming part of their practice? Due Sunday Morning at 10:00 am.

Performance Reflection

We didn't have our full group at Tuesday's meeting so we weren't able to coalesce as such. Paige and I talked about the individual ideas we have worked on and how we can incorporate the flute into the music in interesting ways. I am happy with the idea for one of compositions that I want to develop further - using the harmonies from a song by Tori Amos to create something new. I think that this idea is different in that Tori Amos is not associated with electronic dance music. Because her music inspires me, I find it very exciting to use it and evolve it into something new. I think that this contribution is useful in that it helps us as a team to define what the piece will eventually become. Going forward the three of us need to work together more. I know Ben and Paige met to solve some technical aspects dealing with speakers and Max; we now need to come together to create the music to perform with that technology. I am looking forward to our next meeting.

Performance Reflection

Yesterday was your groups first opportunity to coalesce your piece into a coherent whole. What did you learn bringing all of the parts together and forming them into something concrete? Reflect on your individual contribution; what did you contribute that was unique? Did you feel your contribution was valuable to the whole? What do you and your group need to focus on going forward? Due by Friday at 11:59pm.

Work in Progress

I think we have had great success. We have had a chance to really understand each others perspective and process.  The challenge or adventure that I have is to see how I can add more to the project by using my voice. While I feel comfortable using my voice I have not explored as much as I would like.

Some clips from works in progress. 

Some exciting developments

After our in-class presentation, Ben, Paige and I decided to focus more on the actual music than the technical side of things. We composed some music separately as a way to show each other our artistic vision so that we can build from there. I composed a short piece using my basic knowledge of Logic and this is what I came up with. I'm excited for the possibility of using the flute to generate the melody line and make it sound like a different instrument. Our team process is very open and encouraging. We could improve upon executing our ideas, but I am sure this will start to snowball as ideas flow. Our process is informed by our charter in as much as we agree that we are each equally invested in the project and want to produce a great end result.
My inspiration for this composition and others in the future is the music of activists.
This one is based on Baker Baker by Tori Amos:

Creative Process

I have been really enjoying myself, Carlos' and AJ's approach to developing our work together. Before we start experimenting, we've been discussing our personal practice strategies and philosophies on our art (why we do what we do, how do we process our own art making? What are we influenced by?). This has been very engaging because it allows us to get to know each other not only through our physical collaboration, but also on a more personal level, which informs our experimental proccess.
From there, we have been taking turns adding elements of our thoughts and influences by directing each other on what we are envisioning, and adjusting on hand based on feedback we give to one another.
At this point, we've been primarily focusing on the sonic components of our piece, by improvising with laptop, voice and percussion. I think that this has been a great start because it allows ourselves to just think about one medium before we dive into adding other elements that will be incorporated into our work (movement and visuals). We are working on a structural form and narrative of our work,  and we look forward to adding the other the modalities into our piece in the up and coming weeks.

During our first couple of rehearsals, we almost always jumped right into improv without any guidelines just to see what kind of sounds we could get. That seemed to lead us to several dead ends so in the most recent rehearsals, we've been giving ourselves more guidelines, which seems to have been helping tremendously. We also haven't been pressuring ourselves to come up with a concrete idea for a project as much but instead, we've just been experimenting with anything and everything-- in one rehearsal, we played In C, discussed what we liked/didn't like, and extracted ideas from that. In another, we all switched instruments, made sounds (which actually really helped me relax and be more confident with improv), and reflected. In the most recent one, we did something similar but this time, Peter brought out more instruments so there were more sounds we could play with. Having a theme to each rehearsal has definitely been effective because it really seems to have inspired more ideas. As for improvements (this one is really mostly for myself), I think I could be more proactive and energetic in rehearsals. I feel like I'm always waiting for something to happen or am waiting for someone to come up with an idea and lead rehearsals. I think the most important component to this whole process is creating a positive group energy. In the first couple of rehearsals when I was admittedly very indifferent and passive to everything, we weren't going anywhere at all. But the last few rehearsals have gone a lot smoother because I think I've been trying harder to give more opinions/ideas and just generally contributing more positively. 

Group Process

This assignment is making me appreciate how easily our groups rehearsal process has flowed! Up till now, we have really enjoyed exploring the discipline of dance/movement, and improvising quite a bit.  I don't think we have spent much time talking about the collaborative process itself. However, I think our method is going to have to change. At a certain point, we need to start actually fleshing out our concept. As we mentioned in our presentation last week, Jeff and I are just not skilled enough movers just yet to be able to improvise on movement in a compelling way. I'm looking forward to the process of composing music and choreographing movement completely in tandem. As a side note, one thing that I'm really enjoying  about our collaboration is how easygoing we are with each other, while still having artistic opinions. We are all willing to try anything at least once!

Creative Process of DMJ

From the beginning, Daphna, Molly and I were interested in looking at how of our respective disciplines could work together in a single performance. Naturally, we began experimenting with improvisations using a number of exercises and prompts we had used in our own practices. As we continued doing this, we thought documenting the process (with the videos we presented in class) would give us further points of discussion and ultimately reflection on the work that we continually hope to improve.

Daphna took the lead on structuring rehearsals by making sure we improvised at least a few at the beginning of rehearsal. This served as our "warmups" for the session and would often lead to items we would discuss: what worked, what didn't work, and what could potentially go into the final project?

I like that this experimentation process has yielded some very interesting ideas. However, we need to begin to form a more concrete form or structure to out final project's composition. We need to find time to sit down and "compose" a structure for which we can base off our improvisations and to tie everything into our artistic statement of "arriving in time".

The addition of the video camera has been a useful tool for evaluation and reflection for us. The charter we created has also allowed everyone to equally contribute to these rehearsals that have been productive but ultimately, a lot of fun and very informative.

Now here is some collaboration between technologists and performers...

Michael Tilson Thomas conducts the YouTube symphony orchestra (I didn't even know there was such a thing...)  Like it or not, it is definitely over the top!

Thus far, we've done a lot of talking...

Thus far, we've done a lot of talking.  Some of that talking has included recording and making sound scores out of it, but mostly it's been conceptual.  The first rehearsal we jumped in and made stuff together as a PAT major, musician and dancer, and it didn't feel connected.  Personally I felt like I wasn't being challenged via this process as it is something I have done a lot over the years; I can make experimental dance in the same time and space as experimental music in my sleep.  What I'm afraid of is being a musician in performance, and thus it is what I am most excited about in this collaboration.  The opportunity to play together with technology is fun, but I am interested in getting to a place where I can engage with it with my own language (that of dance performance and choreography).  At our next rehearsal we're going to start making stuff again and I'm excited to see how our experiments will change.

As for improvement, I know we are expected to do more and talk less, however I think this time was important.  I know most of my most satisfying and productive collaborative rehearsals for previous projects involve more talking than dancing/music making, as that is the most obvious/initial common language, and by extension I trust and value this process as a way to build community among the group.  I do appreciate the value of making stuff too... really ;-)

Mechanics of your Process

Rehearsals have been in the studios, but not just the audio studios. We have been branching out into Merryl’s world and have scheduled time to work in the flute studio. So far there hasn’t been much discussion prior to starting rehearsals, but now that we are composing specific pieces we will need to take time to talk beforehand and also reflect later on what worked and what didn’t. Our team strength is agreeing to work when we set plans and getting stuff done. Deadlines haven’t been an issue yet. We could improve upon not being afraid to bring crazy whacky ideas to the table. We need to take more risks, compositionally and technologically. Our process is only informed by your charter when discussing deadlines. 

Potpourri for Shu, Jonathan and Mac

We missed Aesthetic Potpourri for the last group!  Here's my suggestion:


a sudden change in the consistency of snow from Peter Swendsen on Vimeo.

Mixing Max, Abelton and Live Performance

I know some of you may be using MaxMSP software, and some of you may be using Ableton and Max4Live.  Just thought you should know about some free Max4Live packs that could be very helpful in this situation.  In case you didn't know they were there, Ableton hosts a huge repository of add-ons for both Ableton and Max4Live, and many of them are free. Here is the main page:

https://www.ableton.com/en/packs/#

The ones I am thinking about particularly for our application are the Max for Live Essentials and the M4L Building Tools.  Both are free and are located here:

Essentials:
https://www.ableton.com/en/packs/max-live-essentials/#?item_type=max_for_live

and Building Tools:

https://www.ableton.com/en/packs/max-live-building-tools/#?item_type=max_for_live

Particularly, I'm thinking of the Envelope Follower in the Essentials that will allow you to take incoming audio from an acoustic instrument and convert it into control data.  If you have any questions, please ask!

Describe the Mechanics of your Process

Describe your view of the mechanics of your teams creative process. This is the nuts and bolts of the interaction, not so much the conceptual but the actual things you do. For example, how are the rehearsals structured? Is there a warmup, or do you begin with a discussion, or do you jump right in and reflect later? What do you find to be most effective about your teams process? What could be improved upon? What components if any (besides your instruments) do you find to be absolutely necessary to the process? Do you find your process to be informed by your charter? And as usual, keep posting weekly updates to your team's pages.

Compositional Strategy.

Yoooo,

So far for our group the rehearsals consist of a lot of try at first then discussion afterwards. Mainly for now our compositional strategy is based off improvising but as we began to develop a piece our goal is to incorporate a piece of structure and improvisation both.

Our last rehearsal consisted of taking audio samples we recorded and cued them on a Launch Pad which then we played at random creating a piece of almost motives like 'In C'. This is a idea we very much enjoyed and will be using further in our piece.

Compositional Strategy

Our group is focusing a lot on improv. We first started with pure improv but that seemed to lack direction and focus so we tried to improv over a composed bass line and around a specific chord progression, which seemed to work a lot better. We're still in the experimenting phase so we haven't developed a certain sound quite yet since each time has sounded slightly different, depending on what instrumentation we decided on that day (Peter so far has played on acoustic guitar, piano, and some sort of harp...?)

I actually went to the Composer's Concert over the weekend and there was a piece for film (more like slideshow) and music and I thought that might be something I'd be interested in trying. I think having a visual focal point will make it easier to improv since we'll have more cues to play off of and maybe gain a better idea of what kind of sound we want to achieve.

Compositional Strategy?????

Our group is definitely improvising and composing under the humble inspiration of Cage, Cunningham, Brown, Varese, Luicier... and many more.

We talk a lot before and after we work on something.  We make rules, then we see how well we follow them.  After a sketch or two, we talk about how we felt it went and what we found surprising or interesting.

We seem to be not super focused on exactly what we are making, but more so mindful and considerate of what we have made.

We will see where this takes us as we continue practicing it!

Hey All,

Just wanted to share my favorite internet find of the week.  This is a radio work by the legendary Delia Derbyshire of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop from 1964.  You may know one of Delia's pieces: she was one of the creators of the original Dr. Who theme music.  This work is a little more esoteric...



WikiDelia! http://wikidelia.net/wiki/The_Dreams

Compositional Strategy

I have always used emotion as a strong guide for composing rather than anything intellectual. I would sit at the piano and play things until I liked an idea and then the words would flow out of that and be to do with whatever I was going through at the time. Or many times an entire song would just come to me while out in nature riding my bicycle for example. So coming up with a compositional strategy is hard for me know as it has always been intuitive. And I have spent many years as an orchestral musician, not composing for some time. I am drawn to music that says something emotionally, like the songs ofTori Amos. I am interested in the research done by Adrienne Trier-Bieniek on the reason Tori Amos' fans feel a sense of healing through her songs. It would be great to use her songs as a model for my own compositions. I would love for my music to have meaning for other people on such a level. Tori Amos is an activist on feminist issues. I'm toying with the idea of using motifs from songs by activists as a framework for composition. Other such artists who inspire me are Peter Gabriel and Nina Simone. Arranging some of these songs for flute and electronics could be a good guide for the creative flow and also help create meaningful music with some sort of social impact.

Compositional Strategy+1

Elsewhere (tentative)

In this piece we would like to develop 4 different sound images-water, stone, wind and sand, to use both images as the background of electronics. The expected length of this piece could be approximately 6 minutes.

Instrumentation: Bass drum, bongos, snare drum, woodblocks, gongs, cymbal, triangle, maracas, ocean drum, bottles

Sketch:

1) Water 90’’ A(30’’)+B(30’’)+C(30’’)

A(30’’)  

percussion: woodblocks+gongs

B(30’’)

electronics: comes the sound of water in electronics;

percussion: the material of woodblocks becomes intensive and dense

C(30’’)

electronics: water sound gradually becomes water drops, and fade away;

percussion: add triangle and keep the sound of woodblock and gongs

2) Stone 90’’

percussion: sound of drums(bass drum; tom; bongos; snare)

electronics: sound of rocks(maybe 4 voices coming from different positions of speakers), interacting with percussion

3) Wind 90’’ A(30’’)+B(60’’)

A(30’’)

percussion: gongs, cymbals, bass drum

electronics: record the sound of blowing on a flute

B(60’’)

percussion: fixed rhythm

electronics: song of female voice

4) Sand 90’’

percussion: woodblocks, maracas, ocean drum, bottles,

electronics: sound of waves

"Comprovisational" Thoughts

Although we have yet to sit down together and experiment, compose, and improvise, I know that each of our creative methods will intersect in a very interesting way. We have discussed the term "comprovisation" in our group chats, which is the process of composing through improvising. I'd like to outline a small window into my improvisational practice and what "comprovisation" means to me, and I'm curious to read what my teammates share on this topic (whether on the blog or in our later discussions), because the collision of our creative processes will be at least half of the experience!

When I improvise on any instrument, I like to start very simply; in a way, I like to create the canvas for which I will paint. Whatever I come up with will influence what paint I will use to construct the musical thoughts, although sometimes the "canvas" itself becomes the focus of the improvisation because I find things worth exploring in this first creative step. I always record my improvisations, because when I do come across something I want to recreate, analyze, or explore further, it is important to have record of it for referencing purposes. I know some people prefer not to record themselves and live in the moment for each of their improvisations, and I can certainly understand that.

While we have not discussed any parameters for our first comprovisational session, I have started to spend some time with Carlos in his dance studio to get a feel for his connection to art, and this has already broadened my world in a huge way. He is inspiring to watch, and this experience has affected the way I have been improvising and experimenting lately. We are planning on checking out an art installation show in Detroit later this month, and I think a window into Kiran's world will be just as valuable as the time I have spent with Carlos.

Compositional strategy

For me personally, the most important part of composing is having a clear vision of what I want to express. After that I spend a lot of time improvising, coming up with small ideas that support the emotional content that I want to create. I also start to think a lot about the overall form of the piece, which is again connected with the emotional ideas that are being developed. After that, there is a lot of slow progress, inch by inch, until I feel like I have something that comes close to what I want. I have to admit that composing is an incredibly time consuming and slow process for me.

Compositional Strategy

For compositional strategy, I depend on teamwork. My main process will be coming up with thorough composed material, then having Merryl, create the main idea through improvisation on her flute. I am looking forward to doing more improvisation with others in a school setting because I do not get that opportunity often. When Ben, Merryl, and I improvise a piece, we use Ableton so that Ben and I can be on midi keyboards and mess with the plugins on her track live. Ben and I will hopefully experiment with more electronics other than keyboards soon.

Improvisational strategy for DMJ

In the Daphna, Molly and Jeffrey team, we have been working with group improvisations at the dance building and experimenting with different prompts like key words, electronic media and just responding to each other's ideas. Molly posted a short excerpt of one of our recorded improvisations over "pink noise" in our team page on the blog - check it out!

In terms of what we will use for the final project, we will base our improvisations and the overall form of our piece based on texts that Molly recited in one of our initial meetings. My personal favorite was "Landing... time to be still" (I can't remember the name of the author - Molly, help??) about coming from a place of chaos and "arriving" into your body. I don't want to give too much away too soon so stay tuned!

Compositional Strategy

For the Sydney, Sam, Spencer group, the last rehearsal was our breakthrough.  We started out with two crates of cables, instruments, half a dozen or more different colored boxes with various knobs and buttons (not sure how guitarists use them as pedals, but perhaps they have unusually dextrous toes), and upon encountering a technical impasse proceeded to spend the next hour recording really random stuff (speaking nonchalantly about mundane things, vocalizing wordlessly, clicking pens, knocking metal water bottles, inviting faculty cameos) and sampling it in real time using the Ableton square board thingy.

Methodologically, we didn't have one beyond the rules governing how to use the board (add new tracks one at a time in a grid, play at most one sample from each row at a time, and stop adding new tracks when the visible board is full, although that last one seems to be a matter of convenience and not an actual rule) and simple directives such as only sample mundane text with no tone, only sounds but no words, or anything goes.  At this stage we are following our individual impulses and seem to be pretty good at riffing off and collaborating with each other.

As rehearsals continue, we will be able to codify our choices, but it's too early in the process to start editing.  By the end of October we are hoping to be able to sample motion captured in real time using the video equivalent of the Abelton thingy, thus allowing dancers to interact with their past actions selected and replayed by other people.

Once the media are in place, we'll be able to curate the content and create a work that transcends the cool things we can do as a team.

Organizational , Choreographic and Compositional Strategies, Blog Assignment Due 10/8

As you are developing your works, you must be noticing a style beginning to surface. What is your compositional strategy? Are you improvising? If so what sort of framework are you improvising in? Or will you be using through composed material? Or maybe something in between? (I'm thinking of pieces like Riley's 'In C' where motives are provided but how they are played is decided by the musician, or pieces like these using an interpretive style of notation)  Is there a particular style of composition/choreography that you are interested in or you think may be useful, but you don't know enough about?

Let us know your thoughts by Saturday night at 11:59:59.999.  Late blog entries are being noted.

A reinterpretation of the Elgar "Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 85" for Peter, Cecilia and Connor

New Inspriations

I am amazed by the ideas and what it takes to pull off something like this with all parties involved

https://youtu.be/rv3KpEbhCCM

This is another amazing work

https://vimeo.com/amcb/air
I am not sure if there is any chance to get to this kind of production but it does serve as inspiration.

Morton Feldman - Violin and String Quartet

We've been discussing minimalism and repetition, and the concept of what makes a "compelling" work. I remember hearing about this piece many years ago, and I was inspired to look it up again after our rehearsal last week. The whole piece is over 2 hours. It evolves almost imperceptibly, but it holds the listener's attention at every moment - at least this listener's! I am awed by the skill it takes to craft a work of this scale. If even a small part of our final product can display this level of patience, I will be really happy.

Three-Dimensional Soundscapes? Three-Dimensional Soundscapes.

Since Shu has posted a video of music representative of our project, and Mac has posted a soundscape representative of our project, I hope to provide a video showcasing a different side of the project: the actual three-dimensional element with which I will be performing.

The video I posted is of Nathaniel Bartlett, an amazing percussionist that creates what he calls "real-time three-dimensional, high-definition, computer-generated sound; and real-time computer notation processing." I have a hard time telling you exactly what that means, but here is my attempt at a summary of his work.

As an audience member, you sit in a small group of chairs surrounded by eight speakers: four above you aimed downward at an angle, and four below you angled upward. As Bartlett performs, a motion tracker records his motions and activates certain recorded sounds or alters performed sounds. This allows him to interact with these sounds he has created. The sounds are then played back through the speakers, which are panned not only left-to-right, but up-and-down as well. This simulates a three-dimensional audio playback for the listener.

I attended a clinic in which he discussed this process, but everything he talked about was extremely over my head. The main point I took from this was the idea of 3D sound. At the clinic, he diffused a Stockhausen electronic work, and I remember being amazed by the way the sound seemed to come out of one speaker, circle around you, and disappear into another speaker. It was simply breathtaking.

I hope that as we begin working with and developing the electronic aspects of our piece, that we can somewhat recreate this style of ambisonic soundscape effectively; therefore allowing the listener to feel as if the audio were alive and actively engaging with both the performer and the audience. I do hope that we create something more accessible to an average concert audience than TIMESPACEPLACE though.

And at the risk of being crude, here is a meme created by another person that attended the clinic I mentioned in my post. I thought it was too funny not to post. (This was only made because the topics discussed were so over our heads.)

Here is a mix of music that Carlos sent to me before I played in his dance class. I don't listen to music like this very often, but there are so many aspects of it that relate to stylistic considerations I make on a daily basis: how to fill space with a slow tempo, how rhythm and groove affect the larger aesthetic, relating the lyrics of music to how you will perform the accompanying music, etc. Without even going that far out of my comfort zone, I have already broadened my musical horizons. This makes me so excited for the ways I will grow in this project.