Onyx, do you think that perhaps all these questions that were raised aboutwhat exactly you were doing would encourage you to perhaps make yourperformative "movements" and means more evident? Or do you think this is notimportant for your goals?
well right now it is literally the task of creating a language to speak with. I have seen many gestural performances, thanks to youtube, and i have seen things done with dance troupes and sensors as well, but i want to find/create something that is more interesting than representative. i believe that the representative aspect will come from being close to the performer/performance. this type of thing has to be experiences up close to negate ones "bulls^&t" response ( ie, you see a guy fly during a concert, there is a part of your brain that screams "bulls%^t!", BUT, if he were to levitate in front of you, your mind would be blown). in the next 6-18 months, i'll have a more defined spatial language.
but with electronic music, we're all a bunch of jilted lovers because were are all so used to hearing amazing music that was created in a very unexciting manner. what this project is, currently, is "ok" sounding music, done in an exciting manner (to me). thats why i looked so calm on the TED video even though my effects wouldnt latch (assigned to the extremes of the accelerometer range), because i had to concentrate of multiple variables at once and no longer have the distraction of "ease"...every performance is a strain and it is the best feeling EVER! when doing a DJ set or an ableton set, it is hard to suck because its all pre-recorded...you can even put on a song and go to the toilet. with this, you can definitely suck, which is very exciting to me because the harder you can suck, the higher the highs are.The thing is, nobody asks a violin player what he's playing (as somebodymentioned a few messages ago, sorry for the lack of proper quoting here), Ibelieve, because these traditional instruments are already within ourculture, so one knows, roughly speaking, how a violin should be played andhow it might sound like. However, with gestural controllers/instruments ofcourse it is a different matter...
I love what girl talk does. he covers his laptop in saran wrap to keep drinks from killing it, and he just has everyone around him for the duration of his set. THAT is the future. i have discussed this with many other alternative controller artists and we agree that the way forward for musician alternative controller artists, is to swim in the soup of sound that you are creating with a stage being for brief moments and a conveininet place to keep ones gear;-)When Onyx mentions playing at audience level, inside the club, I rememberedof Dan Deacon and Girl Talk's performances which also often apply this idea,and it is interesting to observe how the audience is also curious to seewhat they're doing, so I guess it is a common behavior...