1 00:00:00,050 --> 00:00:01,670 The following content is provided 2 00:00:01,670 --> 00:00:03,810 under a Creative Commons license. 3 00:00:03,810 --> 00:00:06,540 Your support will help MIT OpenCourseWare continue 4 00:00:06,540 --> 00:00:10,120 to offer high quality educational resources for free. 5 00:00:10,120 --> 00:00:12,700 To make a donation, or to view additional materials 6 00:00:12,700 --> 00:00:16,056 from hundreds of MIT courses, visit MIT OpenCourseWare 7 00:00:16,056 --> 00:00:18,232 at ocw.mit.edu. 8 00:00:25,020 --> 00:00:27,020 MARK HARVEY: We have Neil Leonard with us again. 9 00:00:27,020 --> 00:00:30,100 You all heard the great concert we had on Wednesday. 10 00:00:30,100 --> 00:00:31,610 So we thought we'd start out just 11 00:00:31,610 --> 00:00:37,020 by asking if anybody had any questions or comments based 12 00:00:37,020 --> 00:00:41,202 or that, that you'd like to ask the performer while he's here. 13 00:00:41,202 --> 00:00:44,652 AUDIENCE: Did it go how you expected it to go? 14 00:00:44,652 --> 00:00:46,610 NEIL LEONARD: I was pleased with how it worked. 15 00:00:46,610 --> 00:00:53,340 I didn't really-- I wasn't really sure 16 00:00:53,340 --> 00:00:55,730 how it would all go. 17 00:00:55,730 --> 00:00:59,970 I kind of had the basic idea, but there 18 00:00:59,970 --> 00:01:03,210 was a lot of logistical stuff to do leading up to it. 19 00:01:03,210 --> 00:01:06,450 I was finishing a piece of the final piece we pay played. 20 00:01:06,450 --> 00:01:08,610 I'd finished that week, so I just 21 00:01:08,610 --> 00:01:15,270 had my mind full of details to take care of. 22 00:01:15,270 --> 00:01:18,620 But I was really pleased at how it went. 23 00:01:18,620 --> 00:01:25,505 And I also was really pleased because Robin, my collaborator, 24 00:01:25,505 --> 00:01:28,430 was very enthusiastic and wanted to do it again. 25 00:01:28,430 --> 00:01:30,510 And so, that's kind of like a goal. 26 00:01:30,510 --> 00:01:33,960 If I do something with a group of musicians, 27 00:01:33,960 --> 00:01:38,860 to reach the point where people would want to do it again. 28 00:01:47,410 --> 00:01:47,980 Anybody else? 29 00:01:47,980 --> 00:01:49,170 I think last week I threatened to make 30 00:01:49,170 --> 00:01:50,211 everybody ask a question. 31 00:01:55,630 --> 00:01:58,200 AUDIENCE: Usually I feel like a lot of the technology 32 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:01,612 that people use detracts from the performance, 33 00:02:01,612 --> 00:02:05,580 but I felt like, definitely, in this performance 34 00:02:05,580 --> 00:02:10,509 it added a lot of value to what the audience was hearing. 35 00:02:10,509 --> 00:02:11,630 NEIL LEONARD: How so? 36 00:02:11,630 --> 00:02:17,040 AUDIENCE: It allows one person to create 37 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:20,770 so much variety of sound, and the audience 38 00:02:20,770 --> 00:02:26,171 was able to here all of the sound at the same time. 39 00:02:26,171 --> 00:02:29,105 When you're just playing by yourself, 40 00:02:29,105 --> 00:02:33,727 there's only so much you can do. 41 00:02:33,727 --> 00:02:35,102 NEIL LEONARD: I guess, especially 42 00:02:35,102 --> 00:02:36,660 if you're playing a wind instrument. 43 00:02:36,660 --> 00:02:43,580 I was reading a biography of this really famous sax 44 00:02:43,580 --> 00:02:45,450 player, Stan Getz. 45 00:02:45,450 --> 00:02:51,620 And he did a recording in, I'm guessing in the '70s, 46 00:02:51,620 --> 00:02:54,720 with like a echo kind of box. 47 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:56,420 Things a tape delay. 48 00:02:56,420 --> 00:02:58,080 An analog tape delay. 49 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:00,725 And he talked about-- the first recording 50 00:03:00,725 --> 00:03:02,980 he made was published, it sounds wonderful--. 51 00:03:02,980 --> 00:03:04,385 Have you ever heard that, Mark? 52 00:03:04,385 --> 00:03:04,650 MARK HARVEY: Who's the Guy? 53 00:03:04,650 --> 00:03:04,878 NEIL LEONARD: Stan Getz. 54 00:03:04,878 --> 00:03:05,030 Playing through the echo. 55 00:03:05,030 --> 00:03:06,290 MARK HARVEY: Yes, I have. 56 00:03:06,290 --> 00:03:09,030 NEIL LEONARD: It's called "Another World," 57 00:03:09,030 --> 00:03:10,680 or something like that. 58 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:12,590 He plays wonderfully, but he also 59 00:03:12,590 --> 00:03:16,980 says that this is a time when, in the jazz world-- and I think 60 00:03:16,980 --> 00:03:21,450 that in so-called rock music, electronics 61 00:03:21,450 --> 00:03:23,610 were embraced, and don't really I 62 00:03:23,610 --> 00:03:25,870 don't remember them being challenged. 63 00:03:25,870 --> 00:03:30,850 If Pink Floyd , or Jimi Hendrix, or somebody had synthesizers, 64 00:03:30,850 --> 00:03:33,510 that just seemed like it was OK. 65 00:03:33,510 --> 00:03:39,010 For jazz musicians, it seemed like it was somehow 66 00:03:39,010 --> 00:03:41,290 straying from this tradition that 67 00:03:41,290 --> 00:03:43,120 shouldn't be tampered with. 68 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:47,980 And Stan Getz said that it felt natural to him. 69 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:52,330 And it gave him something to do, which 70 00:03:52,330 --> 00:03:52,860 you couldn't do with the sax. 71 00:03:52,860 --> 00:03:54,060 You play harmony. 72 00:03:54,060 --> 00:03:56,916 So if he played a delay, he could play one note, 73 00:03:56,916 --> 00:03:59,290 and while that note's ringing, he could play second note, 74 00:03:59,290 --> 00:04:01,140 and make chords, basically. 75 00:04:01,140 --> 00:04:05,930 Which he'd never been able to do before. 76 00:04:05,930 --> 00:04:10,210 There's also another instance from around that era 77 00:04:10,210 --> 00:04:11,310 that caught my attention. 78 00:04:11,310 --> 00:04:17,390 There was a flute player named Paul Horn. 79 00:04:17,390 --> 00:04:19,640 And he did a recording at the Taj Mahal. 80 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:21,640 And I think it was like this gorilla recording 81 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:24,557 where he walked in and set up his tape deck. 82 00:04:24,557 --> 00:04:27,140 Now you probably couldn't take a tape deck into the Taj Mahal. 83 00:04:27,140 --> 00:04:28,240 I'm guessing. 84 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:29,500 Or into the Vatican. 85 00:04:29,500 --> 00:04:31,847 You'd be screened. 86 00:04:31,847 --> 00:04:34,430 But he said he pulled the tape deck out and started to record, 87 00:04:34,430 --> 00:04:35,513 and it was the same thing. 88 00:04:35,513 --> 00:04:37,400 It is a very, very long reverberation, 89 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:42,060 so you can build harmonic structures 90 00:04:42,060 --> 00:04:46,260 for the flute, which you can't do in a room like this 91 00:04:46,260 --> 00:04:48,070 without the use of electronics. 92 00:04:48,070 --> 00:04:55,600 And so, I don't see a difference between using the Taj 93 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:59,800 Mahal to do that, versus using, like, analog tape delay. 94 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:02,960 If you get to play chords, and that's a really fun thing 95 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:06,642 to play with, then I want to experiment playing chords. 96 00:05:06,642 --> 00:05:08,600 If I can get the Taj Mahal, I'm happy to get it 97 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:11,200 but, I'm not going to bring the Taj Majal to Killian Hall 98 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:12,664 downstairs. 99 00:05:12,664 --> 00:05:14,080 Whatever I bring is probably going 100 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:17,830 to be some kind of computer software. 101 00:05:17,830 --> 00:05:19,540 But in principle-- 102 00:05:19,540 --> 00:05:21,370 AUDIENCE: I wasn't saying like-- I just 103 00:05:21,370 --> 00:05:25,294 feel that usually things don't work as expected. 104 00:05:28,350 --> 00:05:32,032 People will bring in things, and mics won't work, or whatever. 105 00:05:32,032 --> 00:05:34,669 At the end of the performance, it 106 00:05:34,669 --> 00:05:36,585 might have been better if they just played it. 107 00:05:36,585 --> 00:05:40,214 But in this case, things worked out the way you wanted them to. 108 00:05:44,054 --> 00:05:45,970 NEIL LEONARD: Not everything worked perfectly. 109 00:05:45,970 --> 00:05:54,220 And I was interested in when things didn't work perfectly. 110 00:05:54,220 --> 00:05:57,320 It was still a performance, and if something doesn't work, 111 00:05:57,320 --> 00:05:59,129 you go ahead. 112 00:05:59,129 --> 00:06:00,920 At one point, I put the wrong page of music 113 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:04,260 in the music stand, so when we got to that point, 114 00:06:04,260 --> 00:06:05,620 we missed the first Bar. 115 00:06:05,620 --> 00:06:08,810 But I figured, just go ahead. 116 00:06:08,810 --> 00:06:10,480 Don't worry about. 117 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:13,230 But I also noticed-- and I don't know if anybody else caught 118 00:06:13,230 --> 00:06:15,820 this-- but when Robin was doing the first piece, 119 00:06:15,820 --> 00:06:19,230 he played one piece of just kind of like delays, 120 00:06:19,230 --> 00:06:21,260 and just like a wah wah on trombone. 121 00:06:21,260 --> 00:06:23,120 And then he played a second piece, 122 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:27,270 that was-- he started with a drum pad, 123 00:06:27,270 --> 00:06:30,960 and started looping that, and knowing some of those rhythms, 124 00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:36,090 I knew that if you don't get the loop right in the drum--. 125 00:06:36,090 --> 00:06:39,010 You can record it with a kind of a glitch, which he did. 126 00:06:39,010 --> 00:06:44,510 And he didn't remember how to delete 127 00:06:44,510 --> 00:06:46,250 the last thing he recorded. 128 00:06:46,250 --> 00:06:49,550 So you just see, do I go ahead with this thing, 129 00:06:49,550 --> 00:06:52,960 which is not really perfect? 130 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:54,910 And at one point I could just see, 131 00:06:54,910 --> 00:06:56,870 like, he's just going to go with it. 132 00:06:56,870 --> 00:06:58,700 And put the rest of the stuff in, 133 00:06:58,700 --> 00:07:00,545 and start over dubbing the trombone. 134 00:07:00,545 --> 00:07:03,590 And start playing on top of it. 135 00:07:03,590 --> 00:07:09,470 So I could look back and think of a handful of things 136 00:07:09,470 --> 00:07:12,457 that, if this is a published DVD, or published recording, 137 00:07:12,457 --> 00:07:14,290 you would hope you'd be able to fix somehow. 138 00:07:14,290 --> 00:07:17,120 Or have another take of, or whatever. 139 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:19,896 But I think the wonderful thing about a live performance 140 00:07:19,896 --> 00:07:25,730 is, it's like how do you get out of the situation you're in? 141 00:07:25,730 --> 00:07:28,060 I've seen sax players, and their neck strap 142 00:07:28,060 --> 00:07:30,810 breaks during a solo, and they keep playing. 143 00:07:30,810 --> 00:07:33,500 Or the snare drum breaks in the middle of a solo, 144 00:07:33,500 --> 00:07:36,352 and the drummer keeps playing. 145 00:07:36,352 --> 00:07:38,400 In a recording, you would stop. 146 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:40,217 But in a performance, it sort of like 147 00:07:40,217 --> 00:07:42,050 it was like a basketball game, or something. 148 00:07:42,050 --> 00:07:43,980 You just can't say, I've gotta go tie my shoe. 149 00:07:43,980 --> 00:07:45,310 Everybody wait. 150 00:07:45,310 --> 00:07:46,750 You just have to do it, and that's 151 00:07:46,750 --> 00:07:52,225 a really fascinating kind of challenge You had a question. 152 00:07:52,225 --> 00:07:55,250 AUDIENCE: What were you doing in between solos, 153 00:07:55,250 --> 00:07:57,070 when you're going up to your computer. 154 00:07:57,070 --> 00:07:59,361 Were you changing variables, or just playing new loops? 155 00:08:01,215 --> 00:08:02,590 NEIL LEONARD: Between the pieces? 156 00:08:02,590 --> 00:08:03,585 AUDIENCE: No. 157 00:08:03,585 --> 00:08:04,710 NEIL LEONARD: In the piece? 158 00:08:04,710 --> 00:08:05,293 AUDIENCE: Yes. 159 00:08:07,579 --> 00:08:09,120 NEIL LEONARD: I'm trying to remember. 160 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:12,750 In the first piece I played--. 161 00:08:12,750 --> 00:08:14,705 Depends on the piece. 162 00:08:14,705 --> 00:08:18,030 Sometimes there is a combination of-- I 163 00:08:18,030 --> 00:08:20,790 would like to be able to do everything on the fly, 164 00:08:20,790 --> 00:08:25,485 and if I had four hands I could do everything on the fly. 165 00:08:25,485 --> 00:08:27,050 So I could play the saxophone, and I 166 00:08:27,050 --> 00:08:28,160 could be in front of the computer, 167 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:29,618 and make the computer do its thing. 168 00:08:29,618 --> 00:08:33,159 So mentally I think I could do that, too. 169 00:08:33,159 --> 00:08:36,590 I could set it up so more hands-on involvement 170 00:08:36,590 --> 00:08:38,090 with the computer would be possible, 171 00:08:38,090 --> 00:08:39,214 but I could still play sax. 172 00:08:39,214 --> 00:08:41,340 But I only have two hands. 173 00:08:41,340 --> 00:08:45,700 And the sax is like the banjo. 174 00:08:48,970 --> 00:08:51,280 Your hands really have to be there. 175 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:53,670 You can't really get them off, and keep playing. 176 00:08:53,670 --> 00:08:56,730 You can't get both of them off and keep playing. 177 00:08:56,730 --> 00:09:00,829 So some of the music is created in advance. 178 00:09:00,829 --> 00:09:02,370 So the stuff, which I think it played 179 00:09:02,370 --> 00:09:04,100 in class last week-- there's a piece I played 180 00:09:04,100 --> 00:09:05,933 that was like time stretch voice and bells-- 181 00:09:05,933 --> 00:09:07,020 we talked about that. 182 00:09:07,020 --> 00:09:10,425 So that is really kind of a module 183 00:09:10,425 --> 00:09:12,280 of a piece that's composed. 184 00:09:12,280 --> 00:09:14,067 So a lot of time, it's like working 185 00:09:14,067 --> 00:09:15,150 in Photoshop or something. 186 00:09:15,150 --> 00:09:16,200 You sit there and you work, and you work, 187 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:17,158 and you work in sounds. 188 00:09:17,158 --> 00:09:20,760 And you see if they need any modifications. 189 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:22,350 You see how to combine them. 190 00:09:22,350 --> 00:09:26,490 You kind of get a sense of the dramatic flow of the piece. 191 00:09:26,490 --> 00:09:28,530 You work it out. 192 00:09:28,530 --> 00:09:31,040 And then you bring that file to the concert. 193 00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:33,050 And some of that's playback. 194 00:09:33,050 --> 00:09:35,390 So some of it's play back, and some of it's live. 195 00:09:35,390 --> 00:09:38,800 Anything that sounded like process saxophone was live. 196 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:41,190 But if it sounds like it was voice, then 197 00:09:41,190 --> 00:09:43,790 that was a vocalist who was recorded, and then processed, 198 00:09:43,790 --> 00:09:45,830 and then kind of montaged. 199 00:09:45,830 --> 00:09:49,100 So sometimes it was like triggering the next samples. 200 00:09:49,100 --> 00:09:51,910 I think in the last piece I played, 201 00:09:51,910 --> 00:09:54,600 I made the software for that just that week, 202 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:55,970 if not a couple days before. 203 00:09:58,770 --> 00:10:01,920 That one I think I managed to mostly do for the panel. 204 00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:03,637 But if it was getting squirrelly, 205 00:10:03,637 --> 00:10:05,220 I may have gone to the computer to try 206 00:10:05,220 --> 00:10:07,845 to get it to behave better. 207 00:10:10,630 --> 00:10:13,070 So anything from just triggering files, 208 00:10:13,070 --> 00:10:15,960 to kind of a small adjustments to keep it all reined in. 209 00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:21,250 AUDIENCE: So when you were playing the pieces, 210 00:10:21,250 --> 00:10:23,770 I actually thought that some of the process saxophone 211 00:10:23,770 --> 00:10:24,850 was recorded. 212 00:10:24,850 --> 00:10:26,530 As I was watching your foot and seen 213 00:10:26,530 --> 00:10:28,040 when you pressed the pedal. 214 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:30,182 And it looked like the pedal did lots of-- I 215 00:10:30,182 --> 00:10:32,140 initially expected the pedal would be something 216 00:10:32,140 --> 00:10:33,725 simple, like the pedal adds the delay. 217 00:10:33,725 --> 00:10:36,725 But the pedal caused so many different effects 218 00:10:36,725 --> 00:10:38,855 that I assumed some of the saxophone effects 219 00:10:38,855 --> 00:10:41,890 has been pre-recorded and the pedal was playing them back. 220 00:10:41,890 --> 00:10:45,570 What exactly did you program the pedal to do? 221 00:10:45,570 --> 00:10:48,300 NEIL LEONARD: The pedal just sends a signal to the computer. 222 00:10:48,300 --> 00:10:50,720 So it's kind of like a mouse. 223 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:54,560 It, by itself, is really simple. 224 00:10:54,560 --> 00:10:56,970 You can read the switches from the computer. 225 00:10:56,970 --> 00:10:59,580 But the way the computer is set up to respond, 226 00:10:59,580 --> 00:11:03,250 the way I set it up in a concert to respond to the footwork 227 00:11:03,250 --> 00:11:06,672 work, was fairly straightforward. 228 00:11:06,672 --> 00:11:08,970 The computer does three things to the sax. 229 00:11:11,900 --> 00:11:17,170 It will do different kinds of delays. 230 00:11:17,170 --> 00:11:21,580 And the delays will-- maybe when we 231 00:11:21,580 --> 00:11:23,450 get through, if you're still interested, 232 00:11:23,450 --> 00:11:27,200 I could show how the delay stuff works, 233 00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:36,200 but-- the delay business works two ways. 234 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:37,600 One is, it makes an echo. 235 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:42,810 And the second thing it does, if you think about the early tape 236 00:11:42,810 --> 00:11:49,014 delays, they have a tape loop, that just rotated. 237 00:11:49,014 --> 00:11:50,680 The tape loop was played, and then there 238 00:11:50,680 --> 00:11:52,920 were different playback heads, to play it back 239 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:54,370 at different points. 240 00:11:54,370 --> 00:11:56,850 So you have one record head, and then you 241 00:11:56,850 --> 00:11:59,750 have multiple playback heads that can be moved. 242 00:11:59,750 --> 00:12:02,060 And if you move, they kind of echo. 243 00:12:02,060 --> 00:12:04,550 The ricochet kind of effect. 244 00:12:04,550 --> 00:12:18,400 The echo effect changes from like [MIMING ECHO EFFECT] 245 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:21,370 You can change those echoes where there on time. 246 00:12:21,370 --> 00:12:26,390 If you move the playback head, it's 247 00:12:26,390 --> 00:12:30,530 also a changing the speed that its reading the tape. 248 00:12:30,530 --> 00:12:34,265 So if you have a note which is [MAKES NOTE SOUND]. 249 00:12:34,265 --> 00:12:35,960 And the tape is going like this. 250 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:38,320 And you move the playback head this way, 251 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:41,890 you're going to get glissando [MAKES NOTE SOUND] 252 00:12:41,890 --> 00:12:45,090 Because you're increasing the speed at which the tape is 253 00:12:45,090 --> 00:12:46,690 passing over the playback head. 254 00:12:46,690 --> 00:12:48,860 If you move it the other way, it goes down. 255 00:12:48,860 --> 00:12:51,900 So in the digital world, you can get that, too. 256 00:12:51,900 --> 00:12:59,590 So, the delays are kind of modeling a tape delay system. 257 00:12:59,590 --> 00:13:03,650 You can speed up, while you're sort of moving the playback 258 00:13:03,650 --> 00:13:08,630 heads, you get pitch consequences. 259 00:13:08,630 --> 00:13:12,295 Or kind of result in glassindos, or glassindi, as well. 260 00:13:16,810 --> 00:13:18,490 The other, third thing which makes 261 00:13:18,490 --> 00:13:20,410 the delay business complicated, is there's 262 00:13:20,410 --> 00:13:24,350 a foot pedal which-- not everything's 263 00:13:24,350 --> 00:13:27,520 going to delay-- which changes things radically. 264 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:33,370 So if you play a phrase, and at the end of the phrase 265 00:13:33,370 --> 00:13:38,050 you feed more of that into the delay, 266 00:13:38,050 --> 00:13:39,790 it kind of accentuates that one thing. 267 00:13:39,790 --> 00:13:42,720 Sort of like a sustained pedal on a piano. 268 00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:44,470 If you put it down for half of the phrase, 269 00:13:44,470 --> 00:13:47,560 but not the rest of the phrase, one part of the phrase 270 00:13:47,560 --> 00:13:51,420 has this accentuation, or this effect, that the rest of it 271 00:13:51,420 --> 00:13:52,110 doesn't have. 272 00:13:52,110 --> 00:13:56,310 And that can be a tremendous, dramatic change. 273 00:13:56,310 --> 00:13:59,060 But to keep it short, there's a delay. 274 00:13:59,060 --> 00:14:04,960 There is kind of like a pitch bend idea. 275 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:07,590 There is a flute player you guys might have heard, 276 00:14:07,590 --> 00:14:11,230 a gun named Robert Dick, who made a glissando 277 00:14:11,230 --> 00:14:13,250 head for the flute. 278 00:14:13,250 --> 00:14:19,250 And the way it works is, it slides in and out. 279 00:14:19,250 --> 00:14:24,700 So you play a note, and there's a thumb thing. 280 00:14:24,700 --> 00:14:29,180 And use this thumb thing, lever, whatever it is, 281 00:14:29,180 --> 00:14:31,210 to make this head joint slide. 282 00:14:31,210 --> 00:14:33,149 So I think that the blow hole's not changing, 283 00:14:33,149 --> 00:14:35,315 but I think something on this side of the head joint 284 00:14:35,315 --> 00:14:35,815 is changing. 285 00:14:35,815 --> 00:14:37,856 So the glissando flute. 286 00:14:37,856 --> 00:14:38,981 AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] 287 00:14:38,981 --> 00:14:40,980 NEIL LEONARD: Is it the mouth piece that slides? 288 00:14:40,980 --> 00:14:42,580 I've never actually seen one. 289 00:14:47,060 --> 00:14:48,330 OK. 290 00:14:48,330 --> 00:14:50,820 So I wanted to do that with the saxophone, 291 00:14:50,820 --> 00:14:55,372 but I resorted to doing it electronically. 292 00:14:55,372 --> 00:14:57,080 I wanted, like if there was a harmonizer, 293 00:14:57,080 --> 00:15:00,490 there are three voices playing in harmony. 294 00:15:00,490 --> 00:15:03,100 I wanted those three pages all to be variable, 295 00:15:03,100 --> 00:15:05,690 so they could slide in real time. 296 00:15:05,690 --> 00:15:08,600 And I had particular ways in which I like to slide them. 297 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:11,557 But sometimes you heard a harmony, 298 00:15:11,557 --> 00:15:13,140 and it sounded like there was a whammy 299 00:15:13,140 --> 00:15:14,580 bar, or sort of a glissando. 300 00:15:17,580 --> 00:15:21,350 I built like a harmonizer with a glissando mechanism in it. 301 00:15:21,350 --> 00:15:23,232 And so, the second one. 302 00:15:23,232 --> 00:15:24,690 And the third one is really simple. 303 00:15:24,690 --> 00:15:26,650 I don't use it as much. 304 00:15:26,650 --> 00:15:28,680 Actually, there's four things I've been doing. 305 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:34,640 The third one was just a random looping thing. 306 00:15:34,640 --> 00:15:36,540 It's like so the random cut and paste. 307 00:15:36,540 --> 00:15:39,600 So I'd play something into the computer, 308 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:41,710 and it takes snippets of that, and kind of like 309 00:15:41,710 --> 00:15:44,950 feeds them back, or replays them in sort 310 00:15:44,950 --> 00:15:46,840 of an arbitrary fashion a real time. 311 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:50,300 So it doesn't sound like a beat-oriented looping effect. 312 00:15:50,300 --> 00:15:53,150 It's just sending back fragments of what 313 00:15:53,150 --> 00:15:56,830 you played in a kind of unpredictable way. 314 00:15:56,830 --> 00:16:02,986 So you get a kind of a stochastic re-compositon, 315 00:16:02,986 --> 00:16:04,860 or re-improvisiation of something you played. 316 00:16:04,860 --> 00:16:05,901 That was the third thing. 317 00:16:05,901 --> 00:16:08,540 AUDIENCE: The final one, I just figured out 318 00:16:08,540 --> 00:16:16,180 a couple days for the concert, was a kind of freeze effect. 319 00:16:16,180 --> 00:16:19,830 It's using anybody's intel, like audio engineering. 320 00:16:19,830 --> 00:16:22,860 It's using fast Fourier transforms, which basically 321 00:16:22,860 --> 00:16:26,430 take a snapshot of the sound, in terms 322 00:16:26,430 --> 00:16:31,630 of the pitches that are in the sound. 323 00:16:31,630 --> 00:16:35,540 Remember when we looked at that piece of software last week? 324 00:16:35,540 --> 00:16:37,200 We took, I think a trombone sample, 325 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:38,430 I think that's what we had. 326 00:16:38,430 --> 00:16:40,900 And then we were stretching , and we were cutting it up, 327 00:16:40,900 --> 00:16:42,230 and playing with it. 328 00:16:42,230 --> 00:16:47,600 So for software like that, you can take a so-called frame, 329 00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:49,960 we'll say it's a 24th of a second, 330 00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:54,730 and do a spectral analysis of that 24th of a second. 331 00:16:54,730 --> 00:16:56,010 And then freeze it. 332 00:16:56,010 --> 00:17:09,569 Just play those frequencies in the frequency domain, 333 00:17:09,569 --> 00:17:10,410 and just hold it. 334 00:17:10,410 --> 00:17:14,079 And so I have, I think eight of those going. 335 00:17:14,079 --> 00:17:15,740 And every time I hit a peddle, you 336 00:17:15,740 --> 00:17:17,270 freeze another instance in time. 337 00:17:17,270 --> 00:17:22,069 So the idea was twofold. 338 00:17:22,069 --> 00:17:25,579 One was to, again, to build up harmonies. 339 00:17:25,579 --> 00:17:27,740 So every time I had a not that I wanted to freeze, 340 00:17:27,740 --> 00:17:30,500 I'd hit the peddle, and that gets sustained. 341 00:17:30,500 --> 00:17:32,530 But then there was kind of a poetic idea, which 342 00:17:32,530 --> 00:17:33,950 is really sort of pun in a way. 343 00:17:33,950 --> 00:17:35,230 But the song I playing was playing 344 00:17:35,230 --> 00:17:36,688 is a song called, "Round Midnight." 345 00:17:36,688 --> 00:17:38,920 It's very slow, and very kind of somber. 346 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:41,520 And I thought this idea also fit with that song, 347 00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:43,390 because it's like stillness. 348 00:17:43,390 --> 00:17:46,410 The song is quiet, slow, still, and this 349 00:17:46,410 --> 00:17:51,480 would make it extremely still, because it freezes things. 350 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:54,930 So I played around a little bit with that. 351 00:17:54,930 --> 00:17:58,550 So those were the things that you could do with the sax. 352 00:17:58,550 --> 00:18:01,150 It's actually quite a bit of stuff. 353 00:18:01,150 --> 00:18:07,100 And when you think of it, when you think of what guitarists 354 00:18:07,100 --> 00:18:09,830 like Jimi Hendrix used, he didn't have that much stuff. 355 00:18:09,830 --> 00:18:14,370 He had like fuzz box, he had wah wah pedal. 356 00:18:14,370 --> 00:18:17,390 And maybe like one more thing. 357 00:18:17,390 --> 00:18:20,750 I'm not a guitar effects connoisseur. 358 00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:26,900 There isn't a lot of stuff, but it changes the guitar 359 00:18:26,900 --> 00:18:28,420 completely. 360 00:18:28,420 --> 00:18:32,530 So I'm finding that I, too, don't 361 00:18:32,530 --> 00:18:33,860 need lots and lots of stuff. 362 00:18:33,860 --> 00:18:37,270 In fact, the fewer things you have to use to process the sax, 363 00:18:37,270 --> 00:18:40,270 the easier it is, because there's not that many choices. 364 00:18:40,270 --> 00:18:41,660 So you still think you're playing 365 00:18:41,660 --> 00:18:44,880 the sax, with a few, fairly straight forward things 366 00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:46,310 you can vary. 367 00:18:46,310 --> 00:18:47,810 So that's sort of, I think for Robin 368 00:18:47,810 --> 00:18:50,240 and myself, soft of the inspiration. 369 00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:52,614 We found guitar players modifying the guitar, 370 00:18:52,614 --> 00:18:54,530 we think, well, why can't we do that, as well? 371 00:18:54,530 --> 00:18:56,202 So, we can. 372 00:18:56,202 --> 00:19:02,210 We can do it without an extensive background. 373 00:19:02,210 --> 00:19:05,440 Robin does not have an extensive music technology background-- 374 00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:08,910 or with a different, more evolved background 375 00:19:08,910 --> 00:19:12,270 in music technology, which I have. 376 00:19:12,270 --> 00:19:14,477 And both of them will work. 377 00:19:14,477 --> 00:19:16,560 In the case of Robin, he's such a good trombonist, 378 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:19,030 and improviser, that you give me a couple things, 379 00:19:19,030 --> 00:19:22,060 and he does great stuff with it. 380 00:19:25,260 --> 00:19:30,280 Those were some of the things I was playing around 381 00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:34,427 with, or using the computer to do, to extend the performance. 382 00:19:34,427 --> 00:19:36,760 MARK HARVEY: Let me shift so we can get our projects in, 383 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:38,426 and if people have questions at the end, 384 00:19:38,426 --> 00:19:41,860 we will hopefully have time for that. 385 00:19:41,860 --> 00:19:44,790 So we have our teams again. 386 00:19:44,790 --> 00:19:46,710 And so, what I think we should do is, 387 00:19:46,710 --> 00:19:48,360 Neil will help with logistics, if you 388 00:19:48,360 --> 00:19:51,730 want to set up a computer, or whatever you have. 389 00:19:51,730 --> 00:19:53,160 So we should just go. 390 00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:55,190 And the team should just say a little bit 391 00:19:55,190 --> 00:20:00,550 about what it is your idea is, and then enact it. 392 00:20:00,550 --> 00:20:02,490 So who would like to go first? 393 00:20:02,490 --> 00:20:05,240 AUDIENCE: So me and Brian, we both recorded sounds 394 00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:05,740 separately. 395 00:20:05,740 --> 00:20:08,010 I recorded sounds in my kitchen, and made it 396 00:20:08,010 --> 00:20:11,090 sort of like a sound stage thing. 397 00:20:11,090 --> 00:20:14,110 And then, Brian recorded some guitar sounds, 398 00:20:14,110 --> 00:20:16,440 and other sounds he found [? at the bakery ?], 399 00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:19,650 and he put on them on this little mini board, which 400 00:20:19,650 --> 00:20:22,052 you can play different sounds and stuff. 401 00:20:22,052 --> 00:20:23,593 So I'm using Ableton Live [INAUDIBLE] 402 00:20:36,530 --> 00:20:39,175 MARK HARVEY: Did you come up with a design, or a framework, 403 00:20:39,175 --> 00:20:42,840 or is it just going to be sort of spontaneous? 404 00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:46,190 AUDIENCE: The framework is the kitchen sounds 405 00:20:46,190 --> 00:20:51,690 kind of form a beat, and we're going to be going around that. 406 00:20:51,690 --> 00:21:00,875 [MUSIC SOUNDS] I recorded most of the sounds here. 407 00:21:04,360 --> 00:21:06,280 We'll just go into some of the sounds. 408 00:21:06,280 --> 00:21:09,340 One was my lamp switching on and off. 409 00:21:09,340 --> 00:21:11,780 Another is my guitar feeding back. 410 00:21:11,780 --> 00:21:13,420 Another is an effects pedal that I 411 00:21:13,420 --> 00:21:16,545 have that does some really wacky pitch shifts 412 00:21:16,545 --> 00:21:18,300 and dive bombs, essentially. 413 00:21:21,810 --> 00:21:25,970 And mine, I was banging on random things. 414 00:21:25,970 --> 00:21:29,514 And then I used a harpoon growler as a jug. 415 00:21:29,514 --> 00:21:31,502 And some other things. 416 00:21:31,502 --> 00:21:32,993 I forgot everything. 417 00:21:32,993 --> 00:21:33,987 Bottle caps. 418 00:21:33,987 --> 00:22:09,768 [MUSIC PLAYING] 419 00:22:09,768 --> 00:23:26,210 [MUSIC PLAYING] 420 00:23:26,210 --> 00:23:30,170 [APPLAUSE] 421 00:23:30,170 --> 00:23:31,655 NEIL LEONARD: That was cool. 422 00:23:31,655 --> 00:23:34,685 It sounded like a voice, that last thing. 423 00:23:34,685 --> 00:23:36,560 AUDIENCE: Yes, that actually was my voice. 424 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:40,950 NEIL LEONARD: You've got new careers. 425 00:23:40,950 --> 00:23:42,430 Very coo. 426 00:23:42,430 --> 00:23:46,100 AUDIENCE: So we recorded sounds just on an iPad. 427 00:23:46,100 --> 00:23:48,210 And then, put them on there. 428 00:23:48,210 --> 00:23:50,402 And we're just playing everything. 429 00:23:50,402 --> 00:23:54,290 About eight different tracks, [INAUDIBLE], no data tape. 430 00:23:54,290 --> 00:23:56,845 And we're just going to be looping those all the time, 431 00:23:56,845 --> 00:23:58,178 on different tracks, on and off. 432 00:23:58,178 --> 00:24:00,608 And then, I'm going to briefly play the piano, at the start. 433 00:24:00,608 --> 00:24:02,108 And then just come and control this. 434 00:24:04,030 --> 00:24:07,680 MARK HARVEY: What are the sounds? 435 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:08,594 AUDIENCE: Right. 436 00:24:08,594 --> 00:24:10,219 It's sort of more ambiance, rather than 437 00:24:10,219 --> 00:24:12,752 snippets of sound bites. 438 00:24:12,752 --> 00:24:15,674 It's sorta like longer recordings. 439 00:24:15,674 --> 00:24:18,324 It's like a shower. 440 00:24:18,324 --> 00:24:18,990 MARK HARVEY: OK. 441 00:24:18,990 --> 00:24:20,478 Shower type of-- 442 00:24:20,478 --> 00:24:22,462 AUDIENCE: Yeah. 443 00:24:22,462 --> 00:24:26,430 You can figure out what sort of-- 444 00:24:26,430 --> 00:24:28,414 MARK HARVEY: So it's a challenge. 445 00:24:28,414 --> 00:24:32,878 We've got to figure out what the sounds are. 446 00:24:45,278 --> 00:29:05,544 [MUSIC PLAYING] 447 00:29:05,544 --> 00:29:10,514 [APPLAUSE] 448 00:29:10,514 --> 00:29:12,850 Did you have that ending worked out? 449 00:29:12,850 --> 00:29:14,840 AUDIENCE: Yes. 450 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:18,245 That was actually a recording of a door creaking, 451 00:29:18,245 --> 00:29:21,598 that had some pitch to it. 452 00:29:21,598 --> 00:29:25,085 So we decided to use that. 453 00:29:25,085 --> 00:29:25,585 [INAUDIBLE] 454 00:29:32,371 --> 00:29:33,620 MARK HARVEY: Very interesting. 455 00:29:33,620 --> 00:29:35,900 Very interesting. 456 00:29:35,900 --> 00:29:38,190 Let's give a round of applause, first of all. 457 00:29:42,682 --> 00:29:45,720 AUDIENCE: I think a lot of the other groups 458 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:48,280 had some mixed background noise that they recorded, and then 459 00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:51,110 improvised with their instruments on top of that. 460 00:29:51,110 --> 00:29:53,460 And I was feeling a little sick, and didn't 461 00:29:53,460 --> 00:29:55,070 want to play my trumpet, so I took 462 00:29:55,070 --> 00:29:56,700 sort of complimentary approach. 463 00:29:56,700 --> 00:30:00,600 The sounds I recorded will be the improvisation. 464 00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:04,380 So I went around my dorm and recorded 15 different sounds. 465 00:30:04,380 --> 00:30:07,455 And then wrote a Python script that sort of generates 466 00:30:07,455 --> 00:30:10,190 a random way to play these sounds. 467 00:30:10,190 --> 00:30:12,940 So at different sections of the song, like at the beginning, 468 00:30:12,940 --> 00:30:14,495 it only picks from a certain number 469 00:30:14,495 --> 00:30:16,830 of these sounds, all of which sound like fans. 470 00:30:16,830 --> 00:30:19,352 At the beginning, it's like a fan and AC, 471 00:30:19,352 --> 00:30:20,560 a few other things like that. 472 00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:24,200 And then as it progresses, it adds on more of these sounds. 473 00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:27,500 I have a little solo section in the middle. 474 00:30:27,500 --> 00:30:31,850 We'll even hear a couple of appliances, and noises. 475 00:30:31,850 --> 00:30:34,790 Big solos, and then it goes out to some ending. 476 00:30:34,790 --> 00:30:40,320 So the direction of the piece is planned, 477 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:42,670 but exactly what sound is played, and when, 478 00:30:42,670 --> 00:30:44,790 and for how long, all that is randomly 479 00:30:44,790 --> 00:30:47,350 generated each time we play it. 480 00:30:47,350 --> 00:33:21,405 [MUSIC PLAYING] 481 00:33:21,405 --> 00:33:25,940 [APPLAUSE] 482 00:33:25,940 --> 00:33:27,350 MARK HARVEY: So it's your program 483 00:33:27,350 --> 00:33:28,650 that's doing the improvising? 484 00:33:28,650 --> 00:33:29,233 AUDIENCE: Yes. 485 00:33:29,233 --> 00:33:32,200 MARK HARVEY: Very interesting. 486 00:33:32,200 --> 00:33:34,936 AUDIENCE: So to answer the other question, what it will do 487 00:33:34,936 --> 00:33:37,890 is, it will play a sound, play random sounds, 488 00:33:37,890 --> 00:33:39,730 wait for a random amount of time, 489 00:33:39,730 --> 00:33:41,130 and then play another sound. 490 00:33:41,130 --> 00:33:43,406 Sometimes it waits until the sound is finished, 491 00:33:43,406 --> 00:33:44,280 sometimes it doesn't. 492 00:33:44,280 --> 00:33:46,694 So that it can be positive, that can be restive, 493 00:33:46,694 --> 00:33:48,110 and there can also be two or three 494 00:33:48,110 --> 00:33:51,240 sounds playing at the same time. 495 00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:54,260 The only thing, I put the solos so there was never two solos 496 00:33:54,260 --> 00:33:55,310 playing at the same time. 497 00:33:55,310 --> 00:33:57,360 And I made sure that each solo was played once. 498 00:33:57,360 --> 00:33:58,860 But otherwise, all the other sounds, 499 00:33:58,860 --> 00:34:00,156 you have multiple [INAUDIBLE]. 500 00:34:03,250 --> 00:34:08,360 Yes I had the dishwasher sounds not play until the very end. 501 00:34:08,360 --> 00:34:10,510 And I closed the dishwasher a few times 502 00:34:10,510 --> 00:34:15,080 until I got a nice satisfying crash and recorded that. 503 00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:18,699 MARK HARVEY: Did you break anything? 504 00:34:18,699 --> 00:34:20,000 OK next contestants. 505 00:34:25,969 --> 00:34:27,409 AUDIENCE: We recorded five sounds. 506 00:34:27,409 --> 00:34:31,450 A door closing, someone typing on the keyboard, a pencil 507 00:34:31,450 --> 00:34:35,160 scratching, a zipper, and a microwave turning on. 508 00:34:39,050 --> 00:34:41,790 I assigned them to different keys on the keyboard, here. 509 00:34:41,790 --> 00:34:45,280 So I'm going to make a beat with these noises, 510 00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:48,440 with these sounds, while they improvise. 511 00:34:51,140 --> 00:34:53,097 MARK HARVEY: Did you say a beat? 512 00:34:53,097 --> 00:34:53,722 AUDIENCE: Yeah. 513 00:34:53,722 --> 00:34:56,650 So I'm using them mostly as percussion. 514 00:34:56,650 --> 00:35:04,830 So the sounds were things that I [INAUDIBLE] homework, 515 00:35:04,830 --> 00:35:07,952 so I guess that is our theme. 516 00:35:12,892 --> 00:35:14,374 MARK HARVEY: Homework? 517 00:35:14,374 --> 00:35:18,326 AUDIENCE: Like you got the drone or a beat 518 00:35:18,326 --> 00:35:22,278 or just melody or some [INAUDIBLE] 519 00:35:22,278 --> 00:35:24,748 Whatever you want to do. 520 00:35:40,100 --> 00:38:17,132 [MUSIC PLAYING 521 00:38:17,132 --> 00:38:23,650 [APPLAUSE] 522 00:38:23,650 --> 00:38:26,190 MARK HARVEY: So given that's a sort of existential homework 523 00:38:26,190 --> 00:38:28,010 moment, what time of the day or night 524 00:38:28,010 --> 00:38:29,992 would you project that to be happening? 525 00:38:29,992 --> 00:38:31,237 AUDIENCE: After I just ate. 526 00:38:31,237 --> 00:38:32,570 MARK HARVEY: After you just ate. 527 00:38:38,060 --> 00:38:38,820 Very cool. 528 00:38:38,820 --> 00:38:41,050 Very cool. 529 00:38:41,050 --> 00:38:42,120 OK. 530 00:38:42,120 --> 00:38:44,000 Another group. 531 00:38:57,990 --> 00:38:59,785 AUDIENCE: Each of us had a different idea 532 00:38:59,785 --> 00:39:02,455 that was discussed in class last time. 533 00:39:02,455 --> 00:39:04,455 I think we tried all the ideas, and none of them 534 00:39:04,455 --> 00:39:06,910 really worked, because we didn't have good enough recording 535 00:39:06,910 --> 00:39:08,451 equipment, and we weren't good enough 536 00:39:08,451 --> 00:39:11,350 at using that recording equipment to effectively do 537 00:39:11,350 --> 00:39:12,240 anything. 538 00:39:12,240 --> 00:39:24,264 So we decided on a-- [INAUDIBLE] So you 539 00:39:24,264 --> 00:39:25,805 might recognize some of these Sounds. 540 00:39:32,342 --> 00:39:35,600 We found a sound board on the internet. 541 00:39:35,600 --> 00:39:37,826 Unfortunately it's mono-phonic, so the amount 542 00:39:37,826 --> 00:39:39,700 of stuff we could do is a little bit limited. 543 00:40:02,540 --> 00:40:04,470 We were planning on using this sound [PING] 544 00:40:04,470 --> 00:40:08,255 as a sort of reset button for between the sections. 545 00:40:14,125 --> 00:44:19,200 [MUSIC PLAYING] 546 00:44:19,200 --> 00:44:52,109 [MUSIC PLAYING] 547 00:44:52,109 --> 00:45:00,840 [APPLAUSE] 548 00:45:00,840 --> 00:45:01,590 MARK HARVEY: Good. 549 00:45:01,590 --> 00:45:02,090 Good. 550 00:45:02,090 --> 00:45:03,590 That the idea. 551 00:45:06,442 --> 00:45:08,960 AUDIENCE: I don't feel so guilty saying 552 00:45:08,960 --> 00:45:12,495 that at times I was trying to make you 553 00:45:12,495 --> 00:45:13,980 guys feel uncomfortable. 554 00:46:31,012 --> 00:51:07,696 [MUSIC PLAYING] 555 00:51:07,696 --> 00:51:13,962 [APPLAUSE] 556 00:51:13,962 --> 00:51:15,670 MARK HARVEY: Thanks for the extra effort. 557 00:51:15,670 --> 00:51:19,482 That was actually fascinating to watch you do all that stuff. 558 00:51:24,180 --> 00:51:29,730 Neil, do you want to just make a few comments, 559 00:51:29,730 --> 00:51:31,310 or whatever you want to do. 560 00:51:33,422 --> 00:51:35,880 NEIL LEONARD: How many people have done something like this 561 00:51:35,880 --> 00:51:37,340 before? 562 00:51:37,340 --> 00:51:39,990 Anybody? 563 00:51:39,990 --> 00:51:41,720 And suddenly you've done Ableton Live. 564 00:51:41,720 --> 00:51:43,810 And how many people have done Ableton Live? 565 00:51:43,810 --> 00:51:44,740 One, two. 566 00:51:44,740 --> 00:51:47,611 So, what have you done with Ableton Live before? 567 00:51:47,611 --> 00:51:51,940 AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] Just learning how to use it. 568 00:51:51,940 --> 00:51:54,665 I really haven't been that into it, 569 00:51:54,665 --> 00:51:58,881 because I feel very limited, because I haven't actually 570 00:51:58,881 --> 00:51:59,880 bought the full version. 571 00:51:59,880 --> 00:52:01,550 NEIL LEONARD: So you're starting to use it now? 572 00:52:01,550 --> 00:52:01,880 AUDIENCE: Yeah. 573 00:52:01,880 --> 00:52:02,588 NEIL LEONARD: OK. 574 00:52:02,588 --> 00:52:03,214 Just curious. 575 00:52:03,214 --> 00:52:05,442 AUDIENCE: In the past, though, I worked 576 00:52:05,442 --> 00:52:08,200 with Serato Scratch Live, though. 577 00:52:08,200 --> 00:52:11,276 Actually, I use that for DJ'ing. 578 00:52:11,276 --> 00:52:12,160 NEIL LEONARD: OK. 579 00:52:12,160 --> 00:52:15,585 Yes, but in terms of-- when I asked 580 00:52:15,585 --> 00:52:17,710 the question of how many of you have done something 581 00:52:17,710 --> 00:52:23,405 like this live, what I'm wondering about 582 00:52:23,405 --> 00:52:26,710 is how many people have recorded sounds on their own, 583 00:52:26,710 --> 00:52:30,090 and used them in a musical performance? 584 00:52:30,090 --> 00:52:32,799 You have? 585 00:52:32,799 --> 00:52:33,465 For composition. 586 00:52:33,465 --> 00:52:34,280 OK. 587 00:52:34,280 --> 00:52:35,550 And performance is a little bit different, 588 00:52:35,550 --> 00:52:37,216 but it's a little bit the same, as well. 589 00:52:42,280 --> 00:52:46,390 It is really interesting to hear what you guys came up with, 590 00:52:46,390 --> 00:52:48,370 not knowing you very well. 591 00:52:48,370 --> 00:52:50,680 With my Berkeley students, I always 592 00:52:50,680 --> 00:52:53,860 feel like, when they bring in their assignments, 593 00:52:53,860 --> 00:52:55,159 it sounds so much like them. 594 00:52:55,159 --> 00:52:56,950 But I have a longer time to work with them. 595 00:52:56,950 --> 00:53:02,150 So I can make some more connections. 596 00:53:06,700 --> 00:53:11,220 One of the things that came up in watching you perform, 597 00:53:11,220 --> 00:53:23,120 is where is the value in doing something 598 00:53:23,120 --> 00:53:25,370 you haven't done before, or something that you may not 599 00:53:25,370 --> 00:53:26,750 be comfortable with? 600 00:53:26,750 --> 00:53:31,590 As a sort of experimental adventure. 601 00:53:31,590 --> 00:53:37,800 And when I listen to Sarah, and Ben's and James's piece, 602 00:53:37,800 --> 00:53:42,790 one of the things which seems to be interesting, 603 00:53:42,790 --> 00:53:46,321 is that you guys didn't really know where it was going to go. 604 00:53:46,321 --> 00:53:48,070 You didn't know where it was going to end. 605 00:53:48,070 --> 00:53:50,970 You said, that's not quite what we rehearsed. 606 00:53:50,970 --> 00:53:54,300 And that can be a really wonderful thing. 607 00:53:54,300 --> 00:53:59,070 Because the opposite is-- when I played the concert that you 608 00:53:59,070 --> 00:54:01,430 saw, if it happened exactly the way 609 00:54:01,430 --> 00:54:10,270 it happened a time before, or happened every time, 610 00:54:10,270 --> 00:54:13,560 you run the risk of the spark dying. 611 00:54:13,560 --> 00:54:16,380 So the excitement of the performance-- kind 612 00:54:16,380 --> 00:54:17,980 of like rigor mortis sets in. 613 00:54:17,980 --> 00:54:21,470 The spontaneity goes away, and the spark. 614 00:54:21,470 --> 00:54:24,440 The excitement for the performer can 615 00:54:24,440 --> 00:54:25,730 be linked to the spontaneity. 616 00:54:25,730 --> 00:54:28,345 And you lose the excitement for the performer, 617 00:54:28,345 --> 00:54:29,410 and the spontaneity. 618 00:54:29,410 --> 00:54:30,910 So when you guys were playing didn't 619 00:54:30,910 --> 00:54:34,410 know where it was going to go, I thought, well, 620 00:54:34,410 --> 00:54:38,250 that's actually a good thing to just bring up. 621 00:54:38,250 --> 00:54:39,905 Because that's the desired effect. 622 00:54:39,905 --> 00:54:42,380 And it's a struggle for the improviser, who 623 00:54:42,380 --> 00:54:47,020 plays for decades, to keep the thing feeling fresh. 624 00:54:47,020 --> 00:54:52,980 I know for me, there are things you can do. 625 00:54:52,980 --> 00:54:54,695 I guess it's like when you're performing, 626 00:54:54,695 --> 00:54:57,650 and you're distracted, or you're just not really--. 627 00:55:00,440 --> 00:55:02,510 What I'm getting at is, for me the performances 628 00:55:02,510 --> 00:55:07,630 are the least satisfying when one of two thing happens. 629 00:55:07,630 --> 00:55:12,060 Either I can't relax, and get in the play. 630 00:55:12,060 --> 00:55:15,820 So if it's a concert, like with Robin, 631 00:55:15,820 --> 00:55:19,550 for example, if I feel for any reason uncomfortable, 632 00:55:19,550 --> 00:55:22,090 if the challenge of it kinda psych's me out, 633 00:55:22,090 --> 00:55:25,392 or I don't think I know the music well enough, 634 00:55:25,392 --> 00:55:27,225 and I start to play, and all of a sudden you 635 00:55:27,225 --> 00:55:31,670 feel that tension, that anxiety of trying to get to the music. 636 00:55:31,670 --> 00:55:34,450 It's not like a stage fright, it's not like a performance 637 00:55:34,450 --> 00:55:37,182 anxiety, but you feel like you're forcing it. 638 00:55:37,182 --> 00:55:38,890 And once you feel like you're forcing it, 639 00:55:38,890 --> 00:55:42,100 in a performance of improvised music, 640 00:55:42,100 --> 00:55:45,600 you begin to lose a little bit of control. 641 00:55:45,600 --> 00:55:48,200 And then the other thing is if I feel like, 642 00:55:48,200 --> 00:55:50,180 oh I just played what I played yesterday. 643 00:55:50,180 --> 00:55:53,380 I did what I knew I could do easily. 644 00:55:53,380 --> 00:55:56,220 Then you don't discover anything new. 645 00:55:56,220 --> 00:55:59,420 And I think that what's kind of fundamental in improvisation 646 00:55:59,420 --> 00:56:02,450 is this feeling that you're discovering something new. 647 00:56:02,450 --> 00:56:04,390 Even if small things are new, but you 648 00:56:04,390 --> 00:56:08,905 keeping that little bit of the activity alive. 649 00:56:17,020 --> 00:56:19,460 Doing something which is not necessarily comfortable 650 00:56:19,460 --> 00:56:24,230 or not something you've done before 651 00:56:24,230 --> 00:56:28,020 can sometimes turn into a big gain. 652 00:56:28,020 --> 00:56:31,240 The other things I was thinking about with that piece 653 00:56:31,240 --> 00:56:35,760 are-- At first I was thinking I wanted everybody 654 00:56:35,760 --> 00:56:36,980 to record yourself. 655 00:56:36,980 --> 00:56:51,520 And then you guys, Sarah, James, and Ben, 656 00:56:51,520 --> 00:56:54,529 at first I was a little bit concerned, 657 00:56:54,529 --> 00:56:57,070 because you just grabbed some sounds from the computer, which 658 00:56:57,070 --> 00:56:59,050 I told you not to do. 659 00:56:59,050 --> 00:57:01,120 But the thing which I thought worked really well 660 00:57:01,120 --> 00:57:05,470 is, we have such a visceral connection to those sounds. 661 00:57:05,470 --> 00:57:09,350 They have a tremendous meaning for us. 662 00:57:09,350 --> 00:57:12,350 They give us knee jerk responses, 663 00:57:12,350 --> 00:57:16,300 Like if my cell phone is in inadvertently right now. 664 00:57:16,300 --> 00:57:20,270 And I hear a text message sound, all of a sudden I kind of jump. 665 00:57:20,270 --> 00:57:23,680 My body reacts like I have to do something. 666 00:57:23,680 --> 00:57:27,490 So those sounds have a tremendous kind of power. 667 00:57:27,490 --> 00:57:31,050 And we have very important associations, 668 00:57:31,050 --> 00:57:32,920 strong associations, with those sounds. 669 00:57:32,920 --> 00:57:35,419 So they're totally loaded, and the way you played with them, 670 00:57:35,419 --> 00:57:37,362 I thought was really, really fun. 671 00:57:37,362 --> 00:57:39,420 I think that the Windows operating system 672 00:57:39,420 --> 00:57:42,770 is more musical than the Mac. 673 00:57:42,770 --> 00:57:43,280 Side note. 674 00:57:50,880 --> 00:57:52,690 I'm just putting out some ideas that I 675 00:57:52,690 --> 00:57:54,880 was thinking about listening to everybody play. 676 00:57:54,880 --> 00:57:56,320 The other thing I was thinking of 677 00:57:56,320 --> 00:58:01,980 is-- and this is also very true in Austin's piece-- 678 00:58:01,980 --> 00:58:05,157 is that working with computers. 679 00:58:05,157 --> 00:58:06,740 Computers are not nearly as responsive 680 00:58:06,740 --> 00:58:09,870 as a flute, a violin, as a trumpet. 681 00:58:09,870 --> 00:58:12,510 You're making music with your index finger. 682 00:58:12,510 --> 00:58:15,190 You're not using your whole arm. 683 00:58:15,190 --> 00:58:16,850 You're not using your mouth. 684 00:58:16,850 --> 00:58:19,730 You're not using your breathing. 685 00:58:19,730 --> 00:58:21,440 You're not even using your hands. 686 00:58:21,440 --> 00:58:23,560 Are using your index finger. 687 00:58:23,560 --> 00:58:24,800 You're moving and clicking. 688 00:58:29,110 --> 00:58:32,510 But I'm also in my own work, interested 689 00:58:32,510 --> 00:58:35,920 in the resistance of the materials. 690 00:58:35,920 --> 00:58:39,380 So, the computer is totally limited. 691 00:58:39,380 --> 00:58:40,647 Or this assignment I gave you. 692 00:58:40,647 --> 00:58:42,980 Make a performance, it's going to be three minutes long. 693 00:58:42,980 --> 00:58:44,313 You only have a week to make it. 694 00:58:44,313 --> 00:58:46,440 You're going to record sounds in your own. 695 00:58:46,440 --> 00:58:50,210 Right there it limits what you can do quite a bit. 696 00:58:50,210 --> 00:58:55,120 But when an artist is presented with limitations, 697 00:58:55,120 --> 00:58:57,590 it's amazing to see what artists come up with. 698 00:58:57,590 --> 00:58:59,430 So the resistance of the materials 699 00:58:59,430 --> 00:59:01,060 takes you someplace new. 700 00:59:01,060 --> 00:59:04,344 So for example, I'm reviewing a piece of music 701 00:59:04,344 --> 00:59:06,010 which is very difficult to improvise on. 702 00:59:06,010 --> 00:59:08,630 A very complicated set of chord changes. 703 00:59:08,630 --> 00:59:09,710 I tried the other day. 704 00:59:09,710 --> 00:59:12,240 I'm just going to play with my left hand. 705 00:59:12,240 --> 00:59:14,790 The metronome was fast, the harmonic progressions 706 00:59:14,790 --> 00:59:15,552 really hard. 707 00:59:15,552 --> 00:59:17,510 I'm playing the same thing over and over again. 708 00:59:17,510 --> 00:59:19,670 I'm finding my rut. 709 00:59:19,670 --> 00:59:21,753 So what if I just play with my left hand? 710 00:59:21,753 --> 00:59:23,350 And I tried that for while. 711 00:59:23,350 --> 00:59:25,290 And all of a sudden, I felt like I'm getting out of my rut, 712 00:59:25,290 --> 00:59:27,123 because I had to think about it differently. 713 00:59:27,123 --> 00:59:29,970 I had to find new things that I could do this hand. 714 00:59:29,970 --> 00:59:31,890 Put them both back into play again, 715 00:59:31,890 --> 00:59:33,520 and it feels like it's fresh. 716 00:59:33,520 --> 00:59:40,000 So the idea of doing this very short exercise that 717 00:59:40,000 --> 00:59:47,110 uses this kind of rigid, somewhat unresponsive tool, 718 00:59:47,110 --> 00:59:51,340 to make music, has historically produced 719 00:59:51,340 --> 00:59:55,170 some really interesting things that we haven't got out 720 00:59:55,170 --> 00:59:58,795 of the previous concert music practice. 721 01:00:02,090 --> 01:00:05,450 So those are just some of things I was thinking about. 722 01:00:09,700 --> 01:00:11,680 I think if we were to do this again-- 723 01:00:11,680 --> 01:00:16,420 if this was a four unit class, of if this was Berkeley 724 01:00:16,420 --> 01:00:22,860 and you were doing this as your thesis project-- 725 01:00:22,860 --> 01:00:27,050 I think the kind of challenges I found in the last two pieces 726 01:00:27,050 --> 01:00:30,060 would be very interesting to continue to explore. 727 01:00:30,060 --> 01:00:33,010 So what about when you've overextended yourself. 728 01:00:33,010 --> 01:00:38,360 And you're playing some piano, and some violin, 729 01:00:38,360 --> 01:00:39,600 and some computer. 730 01:00:39,600 --> 01:00:42,890 Or in my case-- you heard me in Killian hall-- 731 01:00:42,890 --> 01:00:45,232 I'm doing delay effects, and I'm playing back samples, 732 01:00:45,232 --> 01:00:46,315 and I'm playing saxophone. 733 01:00:46,315 --> 01:00:49,710 And I'm beginning to overextend myself. 734 01:00:49,710 --> 01:00:53,430 It's an interesting problem, and the solutions 735 01:00:53,430 --> 01:00:55,622 you found-- it was wonderful to watch you trying 736 01:00:55,622 --> 01:00:57,330 to grapple with that problem, and come up 737 01:00:57,330 --> 01:00:59,850 with some very interesting solutions. 738 01:00:59,850 --> 01:01:04,630 And I am also very keen on this idea of, 739 01:01:04,630 --> 01:01:06,750 is there a set of sounds that you 740 01:01:06,750 --> 01:01:09,995 can find that have a really special quality? 741 01:01:17,280 --> 01:01:20,210 When you hear Glenn Gould play the Goldberg variations 742 01:01:20,210 --> 01:01:23,380 on piano-- and the aria of the Goldberg variations 743 01:01:23,380 --> 01:01:28,970 is a very, very simple piece-- and he just sounds phenomenal. 744 01:01:28,970 --> 01:01:30,170 He's playing quarter notes. 745 01:01:30,170 --> 01:01:33,102 It's just mind boggling good, and he has barely 746 01:01:33,102 --> 01:01:34,060 even started the piece. 747 01:01:34,060 --> 01:01:35,520 This is amazing. 748 01:01:35,520 --> 01:01:36,760 It's the way he plays. 749 01:01:36,760 --> 01:01:40,000 But I guess that's the next question I have for you guys. 750 01:01:40,000 --> 01:01:41,570 Are there particular sounds that you 751 01:01:41,570 --> 01:01:45,700 hear that would be a good start to a piece? 752 01:01:45,700 --> 01:01:49,420 That just have that kind of mesmerizing effect. 753 01:01:49,420 --> 01:01:51,170 And they're not necessarily music. 754 01:01:51,170 --> 01:01:53,270 I think with the Windows operating system piece, 755 01:01:53,270 --> 01:01:56,350 you also had the advantage of some 756 01:01:56,350 --> 01:01:59,610 of those micro compositions. 757 01:01:59,610 --> 01:02:00,922 Like [MAKES NOTE SOUNDS]. 758 01:02:00,922 --> 01:02:01,630 Whatever that is. 759 01:02:01,630 --> 01:02:04,260 That's like the shut down sound, or the boot up sound, 760 01:02:04,260 --> 01:02:05,106 or something. 761 01:02:05,106 --> 01:02:07,230 Like there are already kind of audio jingles, which 762 01:02:07,230 --> 01:02:10,147 have been very, very carefully created. 763 01:02:10,147 --> 01:02:11,480 And we've heard them many times. 764 01:02:11,480 --> 01:02:13,200 They have tremendous meaning for us. 765 01:02:13,200 --> 01:02:17,060 But are there sounds that you hear in the world around you, 766 01:02:17,060 --> 01:02:19,390 that would make a really good beginning of a piece. 767 01:02:19,390 --> 01:02:20,790 Let's just forget the whole piece for now. 768 01:02:20,790 --> 01:02:22,540 Let's just say the beginning of the piece. 769 01:02:22,540 --> 01:02:24,248 Something that would be fantastic to hear 770 01:02:24,248 --> 01:02:24,980 at the beginning. 771 01:02:24,980 --> 01:02:26,855 That would be an interesting thing to pursue. 772 01:02:32,870 --> 01:02:37,620 I'm trying to remember the other solo artist in this group. 773 01:02:37,620 --> 01:02:38,800 Jacob, right? 774 01:02:38,800 --> 01:02:46,425 Jacob, where I would like to see that work go is, 775 01:02:46,425 --> 01:02:49,000 is there a way that you can share the improvisation 776 01:02:49,000 --> 01:02:49,750 with the computer? 777 01:02:49,750 --> 01:02:53,990 So you created a piece of software 778 01:02:53,990 --> 01:02:57,990 that basically automates an idea about improvisation. 779 01:02:57,990 --> 01:03:01,326 You have an idea of how the sounds could play. 780 01:03:01,326 --> 01:03:02,950 Sometimes they play together, Sometimes 781 01:03:02,950 --> 01:03:03,870 there's silence between them. 782 01:03:03,870 --> 01:03:05,050 Sometimes there's 3 over 1. 783 01:03:05,050 --> 01:03:07,150 Sometimes they're dove tailing were overlapping. 784 01:03:07,150 --> 01:03:09,380 Sometimes they're not. 785 01:03:09,380 --> 01:03:12,660 Is there a way to extend that so you 786 01:03:12,660 --> 01:03:15,950 are a physical participant in the improvisation, 787 01:03:15,950 --> 01:03:19,849 and the computer is playing a disembodied you. 788 01:03:19,849 --> 01:03:21,390 Because basically what it's doing now 789 01:03:21,390 --> 01:03:22,473 is like a disembodied you. 790 01:03:22,473 --> 01:03:27,850 It's your idea implemented as a program that 791 01:03:27,850 --> 01:03:30,640 will execute your idea. 792 01:03:30,640 --> 01:03:32,940 Is there a way to have two of you? 793 01:03:32,940 --> 01:03:37,970 The virtual you, which is what we heard, and the you present. 794 01:03:37,970 --> 01:03:40,380 So, I'm a teacher, so I'm always thinking 795 01:03:40,380 --> 01:03:42,360 for my own students, what do I do 796 01:03:42,360 --> 01:03:44,730 to get everybody to the next step? 797 01:03:44,730 --> 01:03:45,950 Because we're never done. 798 01:03:45,950 --> 01:03:47,220 I study all the time. 799 01:03:47,220 --> 01:03:48,270 I try to learn new stuff. 800 01:03:48,270 --> 01:03:48,340 I could tell you all about that. 801 01:03:48,340 --> 01:03:50,140 We don't have the time. 802 01:03:50,140 --> 01:03:53,920 But I'm always thinking for you guys, what's the next step? 803 01:03:53,920 --> 01:03:55,920 And I think that for Jacob's work, 804 01:03:55,920 --> 01:03:57,090 that would be a next step. 805 01:04:01,420 --> 01:04:03,290 I'll just try to touch on one more. 806 01:04:03,290 --> 01:04:05,765 Alex, Chelsea, and Chris's, the homework theme. 807 01:04:10,710 --> 01:04:15,470 I guess, if you hadn't told me it was homework. 808 01:04:15,470 --> 01:04:18,470 I might have been able to distinguish it from the others. 809 01:04:18,470 --> 01:04:20,770 But I love the idea of homework. 810 01:04:20,770 --> 01:04:24,410 And what moment of homework would 811 01:04:24,410 --> 01:04:26,280 be really great to zero in on. 812 01:04:26,280 --> 01:04:27,170 It's so rich. 813 01:04:27,170 --> 01:04:29,790 Is it like procrastination? 814 01:04:29,790 --> 01:04:34,500 The feeling that you learned something new? 815 01:04:34,500 --> 01:04:37,669 The anxiety of, oh, no I've got Neil's assignment, 816 01:04:37,669 --> 01:04:39,460 it's due in and hour and I haven't started. 817 01:04:39,460 --> 01:04:44,240 There's all kinds of ways to think about homework. 818 01:04:44,240 --> 01:04:48,880 And it's such a central part of your lives. 819 01:04:48,880 --> 01:04:52,160 What could you do to take that another step? 820 01:04:52,160 --> 01:04:54,400 I think it's a great theme. 821 01:04:54,400 --> 01:04:56,120 And what could you do to distinguish it 822 01:04:56,120 --> 01:04:58,320 from all the other works we heard? 823 01:04:58,320 --> 01:05:00,940 So I think that, in short, all these pieces are really 824 01:05:00,940 --> 01:05:02,510 wonderful beginnings. 825 01:05:02,510 --> 01:05:10,210 And I don't think any of these beginnings 826 01:05:10,210 --> 01:05:12,730 is more or less valuable than any other. 827 01:05:12,730 --> 01:05:15,900 But I guess my bias is thinking, if we 828 01:05:15,900 --> 01:05:19,150 were to continue this, what would be a next step 829 01:05:19,150 --> 01:05:21,950 to engage in. 830 01:05:21,950 --> 01:05:26,899 To take the same ideas and develop them a little bit more? 831 01:05:26,899 --> 01:05:28,440 MARK HARVEY: Great thank you so much. 832 01:05:28,440 --> 01:05:28,933 [APPLAUSE] 833 01:05:28,933 --> 01:05:29,933 NEIL LEONARD: Thank you. 834 01:05:29,933 --> 01:05:33,753 It was great to hear your work, and good to talk to you guys 835 01:05:33,753 --> 01:05:34,360 about it. 836 01:05:34,360 --> 01:05:35,850 MARK HARVEY: Great job everybody. 837 01:05:35,850 --> 01:05:37,980 Very interesting The only things I would add 838 01:05:37,980 --> 01:05:42,210 is that I was interested how much the percussive element 839 01:05:42,210 --> 01:05:44,240 came out in a lot of people's pieces. 840 01:05:44,240 --> 01:05:46,930 Percussive sounds, the way you've arranged them, 841 01:05:46,930 --> 01:05:50,150 and also how the live instrumentals played with that. 842 01:05:50,150 --> 01:05:52,050 And actually, very little silence. 843 01:05:52,050 --> 01:05:54,770 There were a couple pieces that had more silence than others, 844 01:05:54,770 --> 01:05:56,790 but interesting to think about that. 845 01:05:56,790 --> 01:05:59,200 So again, more things to keep in mind. 846 01:05:59,200 --> 01:06:01,292 NEIL LEONARD: The Windows piece had great silence. 847 01:06:01,292 --> 01:06:02,000 MARK HARVEY: Yeah 848 01:06:02,000 --> 01:06:03,900 NEIL LEONARD: And I think the performers 849 01:06:03,900 --> 01:06:05,499 are kept on edge with that. 850 01:06:05,499 --> 01:06:07,040 MARK HARVEY: It kept the audience on. 851 01:06:07,040 --> 01:06:09,310 I didn't know what was going on. 852 01:06:09,310 --> 01:06:12,340 OK, so please send in just a little statement 853 01:06:12,340 --> 01:06:14,860 about what this was, this project today. 854 01:06:14,860 --> 01:06:17,420 And your concert reflection on Neil's concert. 855 01:06:17,420 --> 01:06:20,320 And we'll see you Wednesday for something completely different. 856 01:06:20,320 --> 01:06:22,560 Thank you, thank you.