Aural Context

AN IMPROVISATIONAL A/V PERFORMANCE FOR TWO KOTOS, VOICE, AND SPATIAL SOUND.

YEAR

2017

Format

LIVE AUDIOVISUAL PERFORMANCE

Medium

KOTO / Voice

5.1 ch Spatial sound

Real-time projection

Duration

35 min

THIS IMPROVISATIONAL AUDIOVISUAL PERFORMANCE BRINGS TOGETHER TWO TRADITIONAL 13-STRING KOTO PLAYERS, A VOCALIST, AND A SOUND ARTIST IN A LIVE SPATIAL ENVIRONMENT. PRESENTED IN FIVE-CHANNEL SURROUND SOUND, THE PERFORMANCE UNFOLDS THROUGH REAL-TIME INTERACTION RATHER THAN A FIXED SCORE. ACOUSTIC GESTURES, VOICES, AND ELECTRONIC PROCESSING MOVE THROUGH THE SPACE, ALLOWING THE PERFORMERS TO RESPOND NOT ONLY TO ONE ANOTHER BUT ALSO TO THE CHANGING SPATIAL CHARACTER OF THE SOUND. AN INTERACTIVE PROJECTION GENERATED IN MAX/MSP/JITTER REACTS CONTINUOUSLY TO THE PERFORMANCE, TRANSLATING SONIC ACTIVITY INTO EVOLVING VISUAL FORMS.

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Project NOTES:

PERFORMED LIVE AT DRAWING GALLERY IN BROOKLYN, THE WORK FEATURES TWO 13-STRING KOTOS, VOICE, AND LIVE ELECTRONIC PROCESSING PRESENTED THROUGH A FIVE-CHANNEL SURROUND SYSTEM. THE VISUAL PROJECTION IS PROGRAMMED IN MAX/MSP/JITTER AND GENERATED ENTIRELY IN REAL TIME IN RESPONSE TO THE SOUND. RATHER THAN USING PRERECORDED VISUALS OR A FIXED SEQUENCE, BOTH THE MUSICAL AND VISUAL STRUCTURES DEVELOP THROUGH LIVE IMPROVISATION.

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