Developing a critical technical audiovisual performance practice engaging with 'the web' as both medium and subject matter.

Overview

This tool is a repurposing to the Clock tool (see Project: Clock), starting initially as an ad hoc last minute instrument for the non-idiomatic improv workshop I took part in in May 2024 (see Context: Improvisation).

This is my go to instrument for any kind of group improvised playing (hence the name). I have also used it to compose and record music (the track I mention in Project: TAB). I find its range of sounds and functionality too limited to keep using it in this way. That limited range, however, is why I continue to find it useful for group improvising, because there are only so many sonic gestures I can make. It forces me to focus on listening more, leaving space for others, and picking an effective moment to make sound (see Context: Improvisation).

Project

Development

Because this is a repurposed copy of the Clock UI, and thus mostly shares the same technical development, I will outline only the differences between the two and why I implemented them:

No automation

It doesn’t make sense to me for anything in an improvisation to be predetermined so, of course, I removed the automated part of this tool. I could have added in the other type of automation I have across my other two performance pieces, and in Sandbox Tool; the randomised jumping of effect values (see Project: Scroll, Project: TAB, or Project: Sandbox Tool) because, unlike the automation in Clock, I have the ability to start, stop, and change these automations through the user interface at any point while playing. However, it hasn’t felt necessary when improvising to have the ability to set something complex and unpredictable going, I’ve been much more interested in simple sounds and their timings and lengths. Those kinds of automations feel much more relevant to a solo performance where I want the option to fill the whole listening space with something that I’m doing.

Evenly spaced frequencies

In Clock frequencies mapped to a dataset to tie in with the concept of the piece, but this tool has more general purpose so I just calculated frequencies evenly across a fairly large range. Some of the lows are inaudible but I kept these because I like being able to ‘creep up’ to a low rumble by sequentially switching on the lows together until they start to be audible.

Simplified visuals

The glitched images in Clock that are hidden, changed and revealed while the performance unfolds are, again, related to the piece’s concept so I completely removed them. Though I don’t technically discount it as an option, I have never taken part in a group improv where I’ve also projected my screen so for this tool I have just kept any UI choices that help with usability, the changing colour of active vs inactive buttons being the main one. I have also chosen to keep the timer in the UI. This comes in handy when an improv has a set length but I have considered that this could be interfering with my ability to ‘feel’ time when playing, and checking it could be a decision that takes me out of listening and being present.

Reflections

As with Sandbox Tool, I do see this project as never having to have a finished state, and I may add or subtract from its current functionality in the future. I am, however, more cautious about, particularly adding more ‘to do’ into this UI because, as I’ve mentioned, I find it valuable to have a limited range of options when improvising. I also think there’s a value in getting to know an instrument, in a static state, really well, and seeing what new ideas and approaches can be born out of that growing familiarity.

I think, in general, with the nature of practice involving making my own tools, I do run the risk of becoming overly focused on the next thing I can build, or the next feature I can add, before I’ve really given myself a chance to get all I can out of something I’ve already built. Perhaps any changes I make to Improv Tool should be made to a copy of it, and then considered a separate thing entirely, just as Improv Tool is to Clock.