AMPLIFIED TENOR BALLOON WITH INTERACTIVE ELECTRONICS AND PROJECTIONS

This is an interactive duet between my amplified Tenor Balloon and an artificial intelligence I have created in Max/MSP/Jitter.  The A.I. “listens” to my balloon sounds and improvises musically within the same parameters as these sounds in performance.  Most people are unaware of the musical material contained in a balloon “squeak.”  This interface extracts, exposes and responds to this rhythmic and tonal material in real time. The A.I. has the ability to choose whether or not to respond, and can make determinations about how it will respond based on both accrued and preprogrammed data. This is accompanied by my real-time animation projection piece entitled “Stripes”, designed specifically for the Tenor Balloon instrument (created with Jitter).

Work on this interface was supported by 2014 artist-in-residencies at the Logos Foundation in Gent, Belgium and the EMS (Elektronmusikstudion Stockholm) in Stockholm, Sweden.  Amongst other subsequent presentations, the work was featured at Cycling'74's Expo'74 at Mass MOCA in April 2019.  The documentation below is from a live performance at Spectrum, New York City, September 9, 2016.