MD4353 Performance Technologies - Final Task

For MD4353 Performance Technologies, I was instructed to perform at a specific date on the university campus to demonstrate my skills using Ableton and different audio interfaces as performance tools. However, due to bad planning, I was unable to attend this event and so I had to record these tasks at my home. This was my responsibility.

My approach at first was to build the track first and then segment it into different segments that I could then trigger with a MIDI controller. However, I learned quite quickly that this was harder to do than expected, as the programming to fit all these triggers in one place was tedious with the Push 2. With that in mind, I decided to flip this on its head, and turned to improvisation: when I reflect, I feel like I didn’t understand a simple essence of live performing at first - imperfection - but in the final performance, this was the entire focus.

For composition elements, I decided to turn towards synth work and arpeggiated acoustic instruments such as the cimbalom and lap steel that I utilized with instrument plug-ins. These acoustic instruments were heavily warped with reverbs and flangers, and with loopers to assist in the evolving structure of the piece, the final piece was a soundscape of different sounds. The final performance itself was successful: I think I would change some of the levels and properties of each sound so they could blend in together more and not stand out completely.