Maria My Nguyen EPK
Marking a New Era in Music
Performance Skill
PA6030 – Performance Skills 3: Live Electronics (Term 1)
CW2 – Written reflection (1000 words total)
Date: 16th of December 2021
Student number: u2084204
Name: My Hoan Nguyen
Part 1 - Observing a solo performance
Find a video of a live performance by an interesting musician using live electronics.
Discuss the issue of ‘liveness’ in the context of this specific performance. Refer to the lecture notes from the lecture on this topic
Link to a video of a live performance by an interesting musician using live electronics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGnIbkudeWM
What is the arrangement/instrumentation?
Instrumentation: Vocals, guitar and looper pedals. Using the loopers he creates the illusion of different members of the band playing at the same time, so this solo performance gets more impressive when all this sounds play together with only one person on stage making them.
He creates some rhythmic patterns with the guitar in different layers to create a complex rhythmic loop.
He also creates his own backing vocals harmonizing a melody with no lyrics to be able to play it again when he needs.
What musical role does the electronic part play?
Different members of the band and repetition of parts of the song when required.
Looping rhythmic patterns and backing vocals.
How do the performers control the electronics, or make it feel like part of the live performance?
He controls the loopers with his feet by pressing the pedals to record or activate a recorded sound when the song needs it.
His pedal contains a big screen where he can see all the time which parts are being repeated and when the next one comes in.
He records this sounds on stage while playing the song so the audience can see the authenticity on the performance and recognize the loops that later, he is going to trigger.
What other elements contribute to the live experience (visuals, use of space, interaction between performers, interaction with the audience etc).
He is playing on a stage on the street surrounded by people. This concert is being televised and you can see the people around having fun when the camera point to them. This adds a feeling of party and happiness to the performance. To compensate somehow the static performance of the artist.
Also, there are some screens around projecting the name of the performer and some selfies from fans sent by Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
PART 2: Your solo performance
Discuss the preparation and performance of your solo piece, addressing the following
Link to your performance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgUNx7bKqso
What musical materials did you prepare for the performance?
It is an electronic piece of music that I created, recording some loops with software instruments and samples in Logic Live Loops, using a midi controller. I also play some parts live with the keyboard to show my live performance skills as a instrumentalist.
To make the piece feel more magical and longer. I added a piece of audio from Laurence Fishburne’s voice in the role of Morpheus saying ‘’The matrix is everywhere… It is all around us, even now in this very room” in the movie of Matrix.
In the way I made this part of the song, with electric sounds, it was getting a weird color, so I thought it was a good idea to add that sentence because the following part reminded me when someone in Matrix movie was travelling through the telephone connection.
Later I change a bit that next part with more piano than electric sounds influenced by the Matrix classical music connotations.
What was the connection between the electronics and the instrument/voice?
I made the whole performance with my midi controller and while I am in the video performance triggering the loops with the pads, I also play live some parts with the keyboard.
I have also some voices in the song that I previously recorded.
All these sounds came from the same DAW Logic, using Live Loops.
Compare your experience of performing with electronics to your previous experience of performing without electronics
When using electronics, I found that it is a bit easier to make music, because it makes the process much faster even if it always takes some time to be creative and come out with new ideas.
My previous experiences without electronics were not very energetic. I was alone on the stage playing piano and singing, without other instrumentalists in the background, not being loud, strong, or powerful enough.
Using electronics, I can be more creative, and the audience can hear more instruments even if I am alone on the stage.
The sound with electronics is better and you need less people to make a performance with many different sounds. You can change the sound of your instruments, so it is easier to be creative for the perform live on the stage.
How was audience interaction and response?
My performance was into the room of the place where I live without audience so I could not have any reaction from a crowded audience in front of me because of the new Covid restrictions.
However, the person recording my performance like it so much that she proposed me to collaborate in future projects.
What feedback did you get from your peers and tutors?
Because of the Covid I am going to submit my solo performance video the same day of the submission of this document, so I could not have any feedback to talk about it here.
How are you planning to develop the piece further?
I could add more instrumentation and different parts into the song to make it less repetitive and more interesting.
I also would like to make some lyrics to be able to sing on top of this track.
I could make this piece 6 mins length but because I did not have enough time it is a bit shorter. So, if I have the chance to perform this song on stage in the future, I will make it as long as I can to be able to perform on stage much longer to show my vocal and piano skills.