"Play in Traffic"

"Play in Traffic" [mp3 removed]

A sidstation patch called Evolving Sy[?] changes from melodic to rhythmic depending on a particular knob setting. That knob is being turned here (slowly), as well as the filter cutoff controller. The resulting sound is additionally run through an Adrenalinn FX pedal--with settings changing from phaser to filter sweep to sample and hold (about 5 are used in all). The note commands for the sidstation come from an Electribe synth's midi out. That same synth is also producing audio (e.g., the "scratching" heard mostly in one channel), some of which is also being tweaked in real time. A drum pattern runs underneath, slaved to the Electribe's midi clock.

Two performances were recorded, each with its own tunes and rhythms. Each real time performance runs at 136 bpm but they are otherwise completely different sets of patterns.

The two recordings are then overlapped (this is possible because the clock is the same in both). Performance 2 comes in at :27, the two play simultaneously, then performance 1 starts fading out around 4:10 in this five minute song. At any given moment there are several timbral or melodic "events" going on and the combinations basically don't repeat. In painting this is sometimes called "allover" or a "skein." Here there's a steady beat running through it.