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Notes about my offering for EM 2015
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kkissinger



Joined: Mar 28, 2006
Posts: 1354
Location: Kansas City, Mo USA
Audio files: 42

PostPosted: Fri Aug 21, 2015 9:09 am    Post subject: Notes about my offering for EM 2015
Subject description: Live-looped theremin with 5.1 surround sound
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Hello to all!

My set this year will have a couple of "firsts":

    1) the entire set will be live-looped theremin without any accompaniment tracks.

    When I started to play the theremin, my approach was to create theremin works with electronic accompaniment tracks. For "variety", I included a live-looped work in the set. The following year, I created another, longer, live-looped work. People encouraged me to create "more looped music" -- in other words, less music with pre-recorded tracks.

    The looped works are much more difficult than accompanied works:

      . To achieve precise timing and articulation is difficult with a theremin and to hit a "wrong note" means the listeners get to be reminded of it every time it comes up on the loop!
      . To set up multiple loops in a surround-sound field pushes the computer very hard -- to assure that the work won't be blemished with clicks and pops is quite a bit of work.
      . At the same time, low-latency is vital for accurate looping and theremin-playing.
      . To compose such works is difficult and time-consuming -- sometimes a simple edit will take a few minutes as the edit must be heard in the context of the loop, which is built-up in real-time.
      . The initial "work-track" sounds nothing at all like the theremin.
      . practice is time-consuming because notes that are easy to play alone can become difficult to "find" in the context of the loops. Such sections must be rehearsed "in context" and that means it may take a few minutes to build the context for the problematic note.
      . accuracy is vital -- each pitch becomes part of the texture/harmony and a missed-note can wreak havoc as the loops build up.


    The reason that I do this is that I want to create a kind of "alien world" where the theremin tones build into overlapping "waves of sound" that emerge from a surround-sound system.

    2) The set will feature a new composition

    I will perform a major, live-looping work for theremin that extends some of the techniques I've used in the past. In the past, my software plug-ins limited me to 10-second loop periods however this work utilizes much longer loop-periods. I ran into some sync-issues with this however have been able to overcome them.


In addition, I will play another (shorter) looped-work that I've played before.

So, I am in the throes of pretty intense practice these days. The new work is coming together well and I will put together the final surround-sound mix next week (to set up my system is -- well, a bit of a hassle!).

It has been many years since I've had the capacity to haul my entire 5.1 PA system and I look forward to bringing it with me and presenting the music in the format that I envision for it.

Looking forward to the festival!

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http://kevinkissinger.com
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Acoustic Interloper



Joined: Jul 07, 2007
Posts: 2067
Location: Berks County, PA
Audio files: 89

PostPosted: Fri Aug 21, 2015 3:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Looking forward to hearing and seeing you again Kevin. Very Happy

And, looking forward to discussing 5.1 gear, especially mixer & amplifier discussion. We used Kutztown University's surround sound system for this event, had a few glitches, so I am interested in getting some recommendations. See you soon!

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onewayness



Joined: Jun 16, 2011
Posts: 155
Location: Erie, PA, USA
Audio files: 19

PostPosted: Tue Aug 25, 2015 6:38 am    Post subject: Re: Notes about my offering for EM 2015
Subject description: Live-looped theremin with 5.1 surround sound
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kkissinger wrote:
. To set up multiple loops in a surround-sound field pushes the computer very hard -- to assure that the work won't be blemished with clicks and pops is quite a bit of work.


Oh my goodness, yes. I learned that the hard way at the Kutztown event. Shocked

Will be good to see you again this year!

adh

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