wax&wires

INVISIBLE: Rhythm 1001

I like this. Contemporary art music group Invisible is simplifying “programming” by using homemade physical hardware interfaces rather than computers. It’s a very unique concept, a twist on Nancarrow’s prepared player pianos, that’s executed very well.

I’m not down on computers in music any stretch of the imagination, as I think they’re marvelous tool. However, I often find that when we alter our creative process a bit, our brains are forced to operate in a different way, creating a far different product – a variant of the concept that would not have otherwise been realized.

Next time you want lo-fi or filtered drums, try finding other things to play besides your drum kit, rather than simply recording your kit and filtering it to taste. If you want an interesting vocal effect, try singing through a cup instead of just recording your vocals to effect in post production. Little experiments like this can produce wonderfully unique recordings that lead to trademark sounds.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 12th, 2009 at 9:34 am. It is filed under wires and tagged with art, contemporary, live, mechanical, organic, performance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.