By the time LLEAPP gets to Phoenix... I'll be jet-lagged!




LLEAPP USA is just a few days away, and I'm slightly behind in preparations!* That said, I've mapped some of my Max4Live instruments to my Quneo so I don't have to unpack too much at airport security. I'm very torn about leaving my Serge modular behind... but hey ho.

Thanks to Lauren, LLEAPP is jumping across the pond for what should prove to be a really engaging few days. Previously we've focused on musicking, but there's a very wide range of performance disciplines represented, and I'm very excited about the opportunities for pushing my own practice forward.

A bit about me then... chiefly I'm a improvising performer with live electronics. I tend to play either modular synths or MaxMSP based instruments, but rarely both together as I enjoy limitations. Most things I make go 'Pop, click, fizzzzzzzz.... flutter, splutter, HISSSSSSS'. While I often play solo, I prefer to play in small ensembles. It's more fun to play with (and against) other people, and I make sure I've got gestural devices to hand to allow me to respond quickly.

As a composer I focus on morphology, and have made a variety of pieces for 2, 3 and 4 people that I call 'chamber electronics',which use a variety of symbolic systems and graphic notations** for organising gestural events and directing timbre. Graphics and visuals have become increasingly important in my 'sonic' work, mostly as a result of a collaboration called A Requiem For Edward Snowden*** (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbr3fInvqfI)

Both Snowden and another work, SKR1BL, use a variety of realtime mappings to sonic events to both visualise gesture and inform performance practice, and I've been working with another LLEAPPer, Marcin, on a new system using the Unity Game engine as a visual front end to audio analysis as an aid to revealing, understanding and shaping interaction between players.

I've posted a few images from my work, and you can hear some sound at http://pixelmechanics.com/

I'm *really* looking forward to meeting you all!

Jules

* Due to industrial action!

** I was a web designer for many years, making icons for content management systems : /

*** Snowden provided me with some new 'workflow' and tools that meant there were fewer overheads to trying to do both at once, and that allowed me to work a bit more quickly for 'acceptable' results

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