I PROMISE TO MAKE YOU GIVE A SHIT

From my performance plan for NIME:

Background

Pteroptyx is a genus of the subfamily luciolinae and the family lampyridae, more commonly known as the firefly or lightning bug family. The organisms of this genus are known for one peculiar, defining characteristic: the ability to blink in unison. In the jungle in Malaysia, kelip-kelip (as the pteroptyx are known in Bahasa Malaysia, the local language) are a major draw for tourists and locals, who travel specifically to witness this phenomenon that no one seems quite able to understand or explain.

The metaphor of unison pulsing fit in perfectly with my original plans; I began with the idea of visualizing polyphasic music, heavily influenced by the compositions of Steve Reich. Initially, I wanted to make a performance tool that made Reich’s music more visual to the audience, and with p*t*e*r*o*p*t*y*x, I think I have found a display that accomplishes this goal.

The Instrument

p*t*e*r*o*p*t*y*x is made up of 18 frosted glass jars scattered across the stage, an Arduino, and a laptop running Max/MSP and Ableton Live. Each glass jar contains an array of four superbright LEDs (the fireflies), corresponding to 18 different MIDI notes (one jar per midi note), and a conductive lid.

A composition, composed of a MIDI sequence of 7 different repeating patterns of varying lengths and tempos, repeats endlessly in Ableton Live, pulsing MIDI notes to Max/MSP. Each midi note in Max/MSP triggers a serial out event (in this case, turning on each array of LEDs), so each note being sent from Ableton has a corresponding LED sent via the Arduino.

Each of the jars is wired, and will be connected to an Arduino which is in-turn connected to my laptop off-stage.

The Performance

The 18 frosted glass jars are going to be scattered throughout the entire area of the stage. Some will be hung, some will be on the floor, and some will be on surfaces scattered about at different heights from the floor. The sequence will already be running and repeating in Ableton Live.

Next to each of the jars will be the conductive lid. Atop each jar is a soft-switch, and each circuit is closed when the conductive jar lid is placed on the jar.

The performance will begin with the stage completely dark. I will come out holding a candle (most likely an LED candle given fire code/me not wanting to screw up any wires) and I will begin by closing the first jar. Because the sequence is already running on the laptop, closing the jar will trigger the first note/light combination to start repeating.

The first jar will repeat for the first 30 seconds, alone, then I will start to close the other jars around the stage as the piece builds. Eventually, all 18 jars will be phasing in and out in different patterns by about five minutes into the performance. The tempo of the piece will be controlled by a potentiometer, located near the final candle in the pattern. After all 18 jars are started, the tempo will gradually increase for another minute or so.

The denouement of the piece is the removal of the lids, until finally the last light/tone repeats until the end of the performance.