The sixth edition of my show "Electronic in the Tower" is approaching this month and I wanted to share my current thoughts in preparation for the night:
I'm working on ideas for at least one new experimental or interactive type of performance for this event.
In the past I have done:
- Playing Copper kettles - for this I use a device called Playtron to create a circuit including copper kettles on stands and my body - meaning I can touch the kettles to trigger sounds. I have bought some better stands for them this time so the kettles will definitely be featuring (and
often people like to have a play with them during the break or at the end!) - Experiment with a Radio - this is where I bring a tiny AM/FM radio, tune it into a random station in front of the audience and then feed it into the granular sampler within my modular and create electronic sounds and music using that radio as a source sound. This always goes down well - last time I ended up with a football commentary (but whatever the source it becomes unrecognisable by the time I gradually mangle it!)
- Magic Table - this is where I use a contact mic fixed to a table and drop objects onto it. The contract mic is fed into the modular and triggers cascading notes- thus creating a table that if I drop things onto will create all sorts of sounds!
If you like the sound of these kind of things watch this space - I am deep in the brainstorming mode where anything goes for now!
How about:
- I rise up from a hatch in the floor in a cloud of smoke!
- Audience can participate in controlling the performance by means of holding up signs (e.g. for tempo, bringing in or removing instruments/percussion or even modifying the sounds themselves. I do already do this on my Twitch channel via my Twitch Bot - remains to be seen whether I can make it practical in a live gig context!
- Record members of the audience speaking and use those samples in the performance.
- Create a method to generate a melody using people's names as a seed - then interweave those melodies to create highly personalised melodies and performances.
I will report back on if I can make any of those ideas feasible to play at the gig (and followers of my Twitch channel may well get a preview of anything as I often test things out there)
For any Hivers in London or able to get to London... Electronic in the Tower is in a super intimate (25 tickets) venue - a medieval tower standing alone in a graveyard in Hornsey, North London.
As well as my own set I will be welcome electronic duo And/Or who are awesome musicians and as usual 2 Digit Visuals will be performing live visuals projects onto the inside of the tower - making the whole thing an extremely immersive experience.
The show is Saturday 28th September and early bird tickets still available for a couple of days here:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/electronic-in-the-tower-6-tickets-949725242767
Hope to see you there, or on Twitch!
TDC Tunes
TDC Tunes is a Live Modular Artist and experimenter with sound. He plays several times a week on Twitch and gigs around London.
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