laptop improvisers

[horaflora]

Stephen of kenaxis wrote a pretty decent granulator patch for an iPhone app called rjdj... Takes live input and changes the density of the output grains with accelerometer data... And saves several samples for overlapping playback too... Kinda limited, but certainly useful in it's own way.

I suspect other people will begin improvising with small devices such as the iPhone/psp/android soon enough, as they are beginning to offer a similiar amount of processing power to that when laptop performance first started getting hot.. Plus they're gestural in and of themselves, what with the ability to map the accelerometer axes, multitouch, x/y axis single touch to any and all (concievably and in some cases already implemented) parameters..

On a rant now...

Not to mention that there also exists apps such as 'igendyn' (based on Xenakis's gendyn software), and 'curtis' (after Curtis Roads's graincloud program).. And the app i mentioned earlier, rjdj, of which stephen smulovits's 'granular memories' is a subprogram, is based on PD patches that one can submit oneself!

In my experience performing live with a couple iPod touch devices, the 2 biggest problems are:
1. Accidentally hitting the 'home' button (which I've solved for myself with a special case that covers it with stiff cardboard (taken from the ipods packaging!) and (pink) duct tape
2. Getting too sweaty and losing control of the touch screen controls! This only happens in hot clubs at the down and dirty noise shows I find myself at more often than not, though improvising at home or in a gallery or whatnot, it's less of a problem..

In fact, I'll be using iPods (touch and shuffle) at a performance tonight, I'll promo it now.

[flies]

i have to add philip samartzis to this list. most of his work seems to be composed, and on records like the voice crack/muller/samartzis i don't know if he was imrproving or working in post only, but he does seem to appear in an improv setting at least occasionally. i really enjoy the dramatic shifts he produces with his samples.

Samartzis and Wall both seem to work mainly/exclusively with sample playback. it seems kind of disappointing that with all the power one has available from a computer, that computers should be used to do something that you could do just as well with a few disc-men...

[cheapmachines]

Samartzis and Wall both seem to work mainly/exclusively with sample playback. it seems kind of disappointing that with all the power one has available from a computer, that computers should be used to do something that you could do just as well with a few disc-men...

This is a pretty drastic oversimplification of the process in John Wall's case (no idea what Samartzis' working proceedure is).

John has a vast (and by vast, I mean positively monolithic) bank of sounds which he uses as the basis of his live sets. It's extremely unusual for any of these to be played back in their original state for more than a couple of seconds before he starts to pull them apart using pitch/tempo changes, granular synthesis techniques etc. There's no way you could mimic this with a few disc-men.

His disinterest in straight playback situations of his works in a traditional electroacoustic setting is one of the main things spurring on his interest in realtime computer improvisation.

[faster]

I'm almost always disappointed by laptop improvisers, dunno why, but I was impressed by Dieb13's use of a computer.

He doesn't really use a laptop, just a cpu inside a hand-painted wooden box with a midi controller. No mouse, no monitor, no visuals to get wrapped up in, no email-checking questions from audients after the show.

I love Kurzmann's playing. Hong Chulki uses the computer sometimes, in interesting ways. Um, Klaus Filip? Last time I was in NYC, Bryan Eubanks was using his Powerbook along with his circuit instrument...has he made progress in that area?

[MRS]

This is a pretty drastic oversimplification of the process in John Wall's case (no idea what Samartzis' working proceedure is).

. . .indeed in both cases. Philip spent years culling and refining the field recordings/source material from Japan for Soft & Loud and his Mort Aux Vaches entry alone. "Playback" reads very reductively and I'm not sure the broad majority of his work is germane under this thread title.

[(<oo>)]

dieb13 uses kluppe, written by himself.
nifty program.

http://kluppe.klingt.org/

[Richard Pinnell]

This is a pretty drastic oversimplification of the process in John Wall's case (no idea what Samartzis' working proceedure is).

John has a vast (and by vast, I mean positively monolithic) bank of sounds which he uses as the basis of his live sets. It's extremely unusual for any of these to be played back in their original state for more than a couple of seconds before he starts to pull them apart using pitch/tempo changes, granular synthesis techniques etc. There's no way you could mimic this with a few disc-men.

His disinterest in straight playback situations of his works in a traditional electroacoustic setting is one of the main things spurring on his interest in realtime computer improvisation.

Yeah I can second all of this. John also rarely uses just one soundfile at a time too, preferring to pile them up as the situation demands. Describing his work as mere playback of samples is very simplistic. The soundfiles in question are also highly mutated digital reworkings of other sounds, which in turn began life in other sounds etc... Wall's recent work has absolutely no trace of an acoustic instrument to be found in it.

Phil and Mark, thanks for the report of the Wall/Butcher/Edwards/Sanders gig, sad I couldn't make it to that one, sounds fun.

As far as the list of laptop musicians goes, I would add Louisa Martin, Helena Gough and Tim Blechmann, plus on the right day Mattin (his 2008 album Broken Subject was very good)

[gohleekwang]

As far as the list of laptop musicians goes, I would add Louisa Martin, Helena Gough and Tim Blechmann, plus on the right day Mattin (his 2008 album Broken Subject was very good)

Tim Blechmann uses nova, written by himself.
http://tim.klingt.org/nova

[cheapmachines]

... would also add Lee Gamble here. Very underrated I'd say.

http://www.myspace.com/facilitationnetwork
http://www.entracte.co.uk/project/lgamble-e36/

[fearandpanic]

any particular wade matthews you'd recommend?

You could try Absent Friends, the collection of solo software synthesis tracks he recorded for Sillón, one of Sofa's side-labels. They only made 250 copies, so you'll probably have to find an mp3 copy somewhere. In some respects it's more like an analog synth or computer music record in style (more than a "live improvising" one, though he could and does improvise in this way). He has a long history of working with electronics in the pre-laptop era, and maybe it harks back to that period in part. That said, he did record these tracks live and described the process as being very fast and easy. I like the little scrappy vocal-improvising, mouth-sounds ones (tracks 3 and 6) more than the long-form modulating tones, but there's a good variety here and your preferences may differ.

[jon abbey]

there's a Matthews/Stephane Rives duo on the way, but I can't remember which label is doing it, and couldn't find it on a search.

[fearandpanic]

The piercing, high-frequency modulating tones that open Absent Friends are a good match for Rives's acoustic-electric feedback ideas. Rives says: "The possiblilities of acting directly on the pads and the flexibility of the [saxophone] reed offer subtle means of altering the sonic wave generated by breath. Once one adopts a way of thinking based on the sort of filtering any electronic musician does, one’s attention is drawn to the tiny micro-events that are barely audible in a traditional approach. The sonic planes twist and acoustic distortion emerges, revealing the subtle grains and textures lying 'inside' the acoustic sound."

[flies]

Samartzis and Wall both seem to work mainly/exclusively with sample playback. it seems kind of disappointing that with all the power one has available from a computer, that computers should be used to do something that you could do just as well with a few disc-men...

This is a pretty drastic oversimplification of the process in John Wall's case (no idea what Samartzis' working proceedure is).

John has a vast (and by vast, I mean positively monolithic) bank of sounds which he uses as the basis of his live sets. It's extremely unusual for any of these to be played back in their original state for more than a couple of seconds before he starts to pull them apart using pitch/tempo changes, granular synthesis techniques etc. There's no way you could mimic this with a few disc-men.

His disinterest in straight playback situations of his works in a traditional electroacoustic setting is one of the main things spurring on his interest in realtime computer improvisation.

glad to hear i was wrong.

[Jacques Oger]

there's a Matthews/Stephane Rives duo on the way, but I can't remember which label is doing it, and couldn't find it on a search.

Yes It's a good one.
AT, I guess.

[p.t]

kaffe matthews

http://www.annetteworks.com/

[flies]

kaffe matthews

http://www.annetteworks.com/

i'm not too familiar with her work, but i know she used to use this software: http://www.steim.org/steim/lisa.html . as far as I know she's still using it.

[simon reynell]

there's a Matthews/Stephane Rives duo on the way, but I can't remember which label is doing it, and couldn't find it on a search.

Yes It's a good one.
AT, I guess.

You're right, Jacques. But shortage of funds means that it'll be a while before it hits the streets.

[barry]

kaffe is great. yeah, she was/is a big LiSa user. not sure if she still is or not. recordings of hers that i would highly recommend - 'cd dd' and 'cd eb and flo' on her own annetteworks label, the trio recording with Sachiko M and Andrea Neumann on IMJ and of course all the MIMEO records.

[faster]

kaffe matthews

http://www.annetteworks.com/

i'm not too familiar with her work, but i know she used to use this software: http://www.steim.org/steim/lisa.html . as far as I know she's still using it.

Doug Theriault uses/used Lisa, too.

[b-owen]

a favorite performance ever was a duo between ikue mori and aki onda in the subtonic days, haven't kept up so much with her work.

o.blaat seems to keep pushing in the conceptual area of laptop performance with max/lloopp.

andy hayleck continues to make well improvising with the laptop. has written, as i understand it, an internal feedback system for supercollider performing with the wacom tablet. http://www.rasbliutto.net/artists/andrewhayleck.htm