Performance Reflection - Oct 13

This last Wednesday, I performed a short, 5 minute set that I prepared and rehearsed the previous weeks. To achieve this, I streamlined my own interface and created an application designed for my own use.

Perculator 0.5 - Pre-loaded with the exact files I needed to preform.

 

Under the hood

The program itself performed remarkably, the CPU usage was fair and there were no issues rendering projection. The music and audio was synced perfectly.

Unfortunately, my friends who came couldn't get a good recording of my performance. I didn't have a super good idea of the projection capabilities since I only got a brief look at the setup. Because of this, I had to set up on a music stand in the corner, behind a large pillar, tethered to a very short HDMI cable. It was comically riddled with technicalities and unfortunate compromises, but the show still happened and I still performed, live vocals and all.

Even after extensive testing, my control interface, a USB operated LPD-8, completely stopped functioning the moment before the show started. I ended up needing to operate the program with my laptop track-pad, which luckily wasn't too hard because of the time I spent optimizing the interface. I think this technical hiccup happened because of a faulty adapter. I have a small aluminum adapter that I used to plug the MIDI into. I think that the aluminum block damaged the connection causing the connection to be lost. This was probably due to the weight of the adapter pulling on the input. Even when I unplugged and re-plugged it mid performance, it suddenly wasn't functional. 

Despite the various trials and tribulations, the show was successful and I performed it to the end of my set.

I also got some valuable feedback from my friends who attended.

Next time, there are a few things I'll do to improve my performance. I'll bring a much longer HDMI cable and a lighter weight adapter. This way, I'll be able to set up directly in front of the projections. This will make the performance much better all around.

I will spend a lot of time this week revising my artist statement and honing my ideas so that i can confidently settle on a thematic motif and some meaning to create performances with more intention.

Devlog 2.5 - Performative Development

Live multimedia programming is at it's best when its done performatively.

In my last post, I talked about a few of the abstract films and audio visual performances that i discovered in my research.

In my jazz history class, I'm learning about the basic psychology of musical improvisation. Jazz artists play with a preset key, chord, sometimes even a full composition. They memorize the scales and rhythms in order to improvise solos and new sections of music. This way, the musicians have freedom to create while still having an auditory motif to return to. This gives jazz music unity, and I think the same idea can be applied to my own performance.

The best course of action is to develop a system, plan a performance, practice, and know exactly how to execute it. I'll need to develop a system which I can practice and master. I should be able to confidently manipulate the images without guesswork.

This section will go through the different video mixers that I've built in max, and how they evolved.

Devlog 2 - Abstract Research

    This week my research brought me down a new path of inquiry. It's becoming more and more clear to me that I need to begin to approach this with more intent and clearer goals. Once I learn the software, the next step is applying it to my own creative process, and use it to evoke an emotional response. Experimental film is polarizing, but many non-traditional films have gone on to receive critcal praise and rewards at festivals. So, I began investigating abstract and experimental film from the past, to see how this type of work was done effectively.