Released 13 February 2012
All improvisations recorded live 6/19/11 and 7/15/11
CalArts Dizzy Gillespie Recording Studio, Valencia, CA
All music (c) 2011 by Louis Lopez ASCAP, Daniel Eaton ASCAP, and Mike Lockwood ASCAP
Mixed by GRAMPUS
Mastered by Wayne Peet
Album design and cover art by Kangmin Kim
Additional photography by Lauren Randolph
Inspired by the vastness of space, the phases of the moon, and the writhing ocean. This piece utilizes tide charts, navigation maps, and projections of the moon. The performers each take on different roles. The percussionist plays the role of the moon and the brass players take on the role of the ocean voyagers. The work represents a voyage on the ocean where nature and man collide. The moon plays a key role affecting the oceans currents, tides, and general weather. Translating into a musical and visual experience.
The main idea of this piece is that there is an overall structure to the composition centered around the idea of a voyage. There is also a strong improvisatory element thrown into this structure through the influence of the moon. The percussionist (moon) shapes the overall journey, giving rise to different performances using the same overall structure.
The video is meant to be partly interactive, primarily influenced by the percussionist(moon), shaping and altering the live video mixed with animation (Gina Napolitan). All animation is live processed and consists of tide charts, navigation maps/charts, images of the moon, and animations of sea vessels. This piece also utilizes custom software for networked laptops for live video.
Sound is processed live through various custom audio patches, manipulated by the two brass players. This work was first performed in a developmental stage with much success.
Another little experiment made with a crappy webcam and Jitter programming. Image quality isn’t the best but that’s because it was just a test.
Music was made from a few choice field recording of creaky hinges, analog devices, and a custom Max/Msp patch.
Short test video of part of an installation piece involving multiple audio channels and videos.
The idea was to capture a person as they exist in one particular moment in time. This video example uses myself as the subject, but multiple subjects would be used for this as an installation. The installation itself is generative in that the 4 stereo audio tracks and the video files loop, fade, and re-generate independently from one another.
The audio was created using acoustic instruments with digitally created “harmonics” in Max/Msp centered around a fundamental pitch sourced on a de-tuned guitar.
One could view this as a meditation on time, exploring the notion of self as it exists with in time, both physically and mentally.
I guess I asked myself
What is here?
How do we remember?
The Di-Morpher contains 2 stereo loopers with overdubbing. Each looper is connected to 2 stereo morphers that can be scrubbed with the function graph. Additional morpher controls are through the animated xy graph. Lines and shapes can be recorded or randomly generated manipulating the grains from the sampled loop and additional comb filtering. I also added a delay on the input signal and a pitch shift delay on the summed output signal. Reverb and Ambisonic panning for extra. All controls are assignable with the Trombduino in various configurations.
“A Dream Adventure” is a patch created as a standalone work for 4 channels of audio, that also has built in variation for each performance.
“A Dream Adventure” also comes in an installation mode where its 12minute variable performance can constantly regenerate it self. This work utilizes vocal phonemes, harmonies generated from the harmonic series, reverb, ambisonic panning, and electronic sounds generated on an ARP Axxe pre-manipulated in Max/Msp and mixed in Logic Pro. “A Dream Adventure” lasts for roughly 12 minutes and takes the listener on an enriched sonic adventure. This work is available as a Max/Msp patch that can be performed anywhere with a 4 channel sound system, to obtain a Max runtime version of this patch for performance or installation send me a message.
A video of a live version of “The Dream Adventure” can be viewed below. Recorded in stereo.
