Live Electronic Music Performances
Below are full-length performance videos of my electronic music.
Click to jump to a project: Maxed Out | Horses n' Ghosts | Networked Audio | LOrkAS
Maxed Out
Composer, Producer, Performer
(2019)
Maxed Out is a short composition I wrote to explore finger drumming. The track was created in Ableton Live. All of the arming (record enabling) and disarming of tracks was automated in Max for Live (M4L). The "bell-like" synth was made in M4L as well. The sub bass, kick, snare, and hi hat all came from various sample packs, most of which were basic 808 packs.
For the opening passage, I played the "bell-like" synth with the fingers of my left hand, the sub bass notes with my left thumb, and the drum part with my right hand: kick (thumb), snare (index finger), and hi hat (middle and ring finger).
The erhu sample for the hook was taken from freesound.org. Check it out here. It is licensed under the Creative Commons 0 License. I cleaned that recording in RX iZotope, transposed it to the key of my track, and sliced it in Ableton's Simpler.
This recording was mastered by Jim Elenteny and live sound for the performance was provided by Jon Henson. Click here to see the lead sheet.
Horses n' Ghosts
Composer, Performer, Max Programmer
(2017)
Horses n' Ghosts was board-game-synthesizer. It functioned both as a board game and a musical instrument. It uses fiducial marker tracking via the reacTIVision computer vision framework. This synthesizer is essentially a homemade ReacTable.
This particular work was created as a commission for a wedding, of all things. The bride, Althea Pergakis, really likes ghosts and board games, so we combined those two interests.
Horses n' Ghosts was the precursor to an installation I did named In Harmony.
Credits can be seen at the end of the video.
Networked Music Ensemble Performance
Director, Teacher, Performer, Producer
(2021)
This networked music concert was performed live from 4 different locations using Sonobus and Ableton Live. We rehearsed and performed remotely with one another as a precautionary measure during a time when COVID-19 infection rates were at an all-time high in the U.S. We streamed the performance on May 13, 2021.
The opening video package is the only pre-recorded material. All music from the 1:41 timestamp onwards was done live.
These performers were enrolled in a course I taught at Western Carolina University. Among the topics covered in the class were networked audio, remote performance, and improvisatory interactive commercial electronic music techniques.
The performers in the video are Aubrey Bell, Will Flinner, Gabe Spivey, and myself.
Laptop Orchestra of Arizona State (LOrkAS)
Co-Director, Composer, Performer
(2013 - 2016)
While co-directing LOrkAS, I had to "wear many hats". Though I composed for and performed with this group, I also coordinated rehearsals, booked performances, helped balance our budget, and managed an ensemble full of wonderfully colorful personalities. What made LOrkAS unique was that it was comprised of musicians with little programming experience and programmers with NO performance experience.
Above is an example of an avant garde piece I wrote for the group just after we released our debut album. The goal of the composition was to get this group of very different-minded practitioners to sing with reckless abandon, while fully engaging their bodies in gestural sound control. We used Wiimotes for this. The piece was not intended to "sound pleasant". I'm not even particularly concerned with whether or not people consider it music. I just wanted us to have fun with technology, sound, and physical interactivity.
Credits can be seen at the end of the video.