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on autopoiesis down, one to go, for the time being.
despite a really muddy, incoherent monitor mix, it seems that the first performance worked better than we imagined: people sitting in differnt spots in the venue had very different experiences of the performance, particular elements coming to the fore, particular elements being selected as focus points...no-one, including ourselves, had a general view of what was happening. we decided on a constraint before we went on---build a wall---which also seems to either have worked or to have provided a micronarrative that enabled us to rationalize what happened.
it seemed to almost frighten people that we talked to afterwards.
something must have worked in reality---the number of beers that floated toward us without our actually paying after the fact are a good barometer, i think.
which of course means that tonight will be apporached through a slight haze.
which brings me to a question for you, o reader: tonight we are doing a quieter st that for me will focus on manipulating the qualities of sound by tampering with the soundboard. i wonder if any have suggestions for materials or objects that i might use to open up the possibilities more.
here's what i use to far:
my hands (harmonics, dampening, scratching, etc.)
a childs violin bow (i cant use it as a bow, sadly, because the horsehair is too fine to catch the stringes)
a piece of felt jammed between the hair and wood of the bow, as a soft hammer
typani mallets (felt lined but harder than the above)
marimba mallets (hard rubber)
the wires from the bottom of a snare drum
what i am thinking of adding tonight:
some string of fishing line run around some strings and pulled across them to bow (long tones--hard to manipulate myself, given that it will take two hands to produce the sound)
a toilet plunger
maybe a small battery operated fan
and the object from the house: a flashlight (i like getting things from the space to use)
any ideas?
btw, i am not going to do prepared piano because i dont have enough time to get it together between sets, and i share the piano with the other act....so it is not really about nailing down strings or that kind of thing--more about producing overtines and messing with them ontop of the strings.
i'll be around for another 3 hours or so, checking from time to time, so let me know...
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a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle
spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear
it make you sick.
-kamau brathwaite
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