The first group improvisation really opened some new pathways for me to explore, most notably the no input mixing method that I have since delved into further. I enjoyed the process of improvising on the spot with no restrictions, but this time I wanted to be more involved with the performance. Last time I felt I did a lot of listening and observing, and my role was more to add accents and texture to an already sonically dense performance. I decided to bring my mixer along and sure enough Cai brought his as well, which was great because, alongside the fact that there were considerably less people, it changed the dynamic and overall sound of the improvisation. This recording I’ve linked below is a lot more electronic and driven by synths, mixers and software instruments. We also had one person controlling the overall mix and established that the master mixer is as much an instrument as anything else, with the person in control of it able to make creative decisions like adding effects, changing volume and bringing sound sources in and out of the mix. Furthermore there was one person controlling the octophonic speaker setup with the Pro-Tools plugin ‘GRM Spaces’. This person was able to move individual instruments around the eight speakers as well as the entire master, which ended up creating a much more immersive and spatial experience.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/12CXML5mBQcDxgUpqgNYtMXGUSBFM2qWz/view?usp=sharing
I feel like this time around the group as a whole were more understanding of everyone’s strengths and individual approaches, which resulted in a much more cohesive and structured performance. The link that I have provided is an ambisonic recording of the performance. At around 6 and a half minutes the piece moves onto to focus on my group, which consisted of me and my mixer and Dereck who was using software synths on Ableton being triggered by a MIDI keyboard. Dereck decided to leave me to improvise on my own before joining in which was great for me as it allowed me to have the limelight for a bit and bring my approach to the group more so than last week. I was happy because I felt like I set the tone for the rest of the performance, which then jumped between the different groups. My groups section was a lot more minimal and isolated, but ended up acting as a build up to the synths that came in after, as if it was planned. The spatial aspect offered more space for each sound to breathe and it never felt like any sound dominated when it didn’t need to. Listening back I can imagine that this piece was recorded on a space ship in the middle of an unknown galaxy – the sonic qualities and layers of glitches, strange pads and ethereal frequency shifts sound like a crew of astronauts journeying through an undiscovered area of the universe.
Compared to the first recordings, this one felt like everyone was more connected and the collective conscience that I spoke about before was stronger. Every person respected the overall mood and the piece didn’t seem to flick between atmospheres and aesthetics. It honestly sounded like a score to a sci-fi film. I think if we were to do this more often we would naturally become more connected as a group and create some really progressive sound art. This space offers an opportunity that I wouldn’t be able to have anywhere else, where all these interesting sound tools culminate to spark ideas and inspiration.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vsBrcTMi4-N1rYqyk3EtZ6dD2cSB-fX5/view?usp=sharing