Live Performance Challenges

In my last post of this week I would like to describe the challenges of my live performance.

To start, I was from mid December until end of March stuck at home in Chile, South America due to COVID regulations and situations all over the globe. I could attend to my online lessons, that weren’t as encouraging as the present form but still managed to do so, even though it implied starting everyday at 5am.

The big problem with this situation was that aside of being far from Berlin and the studio, the logistics with the controllers and pieces I needed for my performance. Logistics aren’t working in optimal conditions since COVID, now even more when you buy from abroad, one can experience delays, not only for the purchases I did in advance, but the same manufacturers experienced stock problems.

So there I was without gear, without the pieces I needed for my set, without a music studio, just my DAW. As my project is mainly generative I decided to deepen in the research and investigation of the different topics and themes that intrigue me, which are the ground base level of my performance.

The whole idea behind it its a first step towards Plant Bioacoustics and the relationship between life systems and music technology.

I decided to start reading about “Hidden Messages in the water” by Masaru Emoto, who states that water is alive as long as it’s in circulation and is sentient, able to retain information, of responding to the environment. Another believer of the idea that everything is connected, as we all come from the same source. We are composed by around 80% water. When we cry, water exits our body in the shape of teardrops, ¿Why is that?

I can only recommend this amazing book. Once this book was finished I started reading and getting more knowledge about certain techniques associated with Immersive Audio. I contacted others artists in the field in order to have feedback and establish relationships, the famous networking.

The more I learned about water, plants and sound, the more I started to imagine and connect the dots. A feeling of that there is something out there. I can’t say what, but it requires some belief and the capability of losing fear to gain perspective. Let’s call it intuition.

Once I was able to land in Berlin by mid march, the biggest challenge was to do the job I had to in 6 months only in 3, plus my daily obligations to my Bachelor.

For my luck, the controllers and gear I needed would be extremely delayed, actually there are instruments and controllers that still haven’t arrived. Nevertheless I started to prepare the technical aspects of setting up a Octophonic space, learning about its requirements and issues one can encounter in the process of set up and interaction.

By the time my idea was clear and the technical aspect was solved, the curfew restricted a lot my possibilities to shoot during the night. To shoot during the day is complicated in order to manage / control light and I had to improvise a bit on the schedule. Normally I like to work during the night.

I rehearsed day after day the performance, that kept me surprised everytime I interacted with plants, observing the differences in behaviors, then translated into music. A new way of communicating with botany. A musical output that never ceases to surprise me. Creating a generative music system with plants Ive been taking care for almost 2 years now.

I must say for the record, that I constantly play music to plants, talk to them as sentient organisms. It’s part of my value system and my belief.

When I started playing, my computer crashed 4 times during the live performance so I strongly recommend you read the post about Immersive Audio and follow the tips & tricks for lower CPU usage.

Above all the difficulties I encountered, I learned a lot. I connected with different manufacturers, met new people in the field, started exploring a new artistic practice and above all I wake up every day of my life for the last two years HAPPY.

This research has only opened a door that i’m happy I to cross. From now on its all about experimenting and learning from our environment, from plants. Im positive of other types of ideas for the future, such as connecting plants to hardware, using different plants, working on different scenarios to observate their reaction.

Never lose your imagination and follow your instinct, is the best advice I can give.

Enjoy the Performance!