Fan Art is now available on major platforms. For a comprehensive list of distributors, visit https://noremixes.com/nore048/
At a solo concert last night, I promoted Fan Art for the first time. As you can see in the picture, it felt awesome.
I will write more about each track in the following weeks. Go listen to the album!
No Remixes will release my new album on January 20th. I named the album Fan Art because each track is a tribute to things I fanatically admire – Bach’s Prelude in C minor, Debussy’s Clair de Lune, traditional Korean rhythms, no-input mixing, palindrome, ii-V-I progressions, and synthesizers. The way I expressed my fandom could be excessive, too personal, niche, and inappropriate, but those are what make fan art great!
After the album release, I will write a blog for each piece in CMPE style. Revisit my social media to learn algorithmic composition and sound design!
I made a list of my published and available works using Google Sheets. Click HERE to view. The work list already exists on joowonpark.net, but the HTML format is difficult to sort, analyze, and assess. A catalog in spreadsheet format allows me to revise and manage the pieces with much more ease. The current file has the following information per piece:
There are 121 pieces listed in the catalog as of December 2022. The number is more than the entries in my BMI catalog, which is currently 98, for the following reasons:
I also had to decide how to catalog 100 Strange Sounds and CMPE. The two were multi-year projects consisting of many short pieces. I had to choose to count them as two long compositions or 132 separate pieces.
The most challenging part of cataloging was deciding what not to include. My principal guideline was whether the piece had online documentation.
My productivity increased to a satisfactory level after graduate school. The number of presentable pieces per year was the lowest when I had the most time to work on music as a graduate student. Conversely, my productivity peaked when I had the least amount of time. I had a newborn baby and a first-grader to raise in 2015, but I released an album and was working on the next one. I accept that the pieces I made before 2009 were not good enough to get into conferences and invited shows. Also, I started using platforms like YouTube to facilitate sharing and documenting work after finishing school.
The number of album releases and large-scale works indicates that I work well with long-term projects. Creating an album with a theme keeps me in creative mode. Multi-movement electroacoustic work is fun. A single piece that requires an extended amount of time to gather sources or produce sounds positively challenges me. I will consider my experience in planning and executing long-term projects as my strength and continue developing it.
Co-creation accounts for about 30% of my creative output. I thought I preferred working alone, but the pi chart says I am not bad at collaborations. I am confident that I can tackle bigger projects involving multiple personnel in the future.
There are a few things to improve in the catalog. I want to record each piece’s duration to compare the effort I put into each work. I can also list performers who premiered the piece. The number of performances per piece can also be pertinent data for the catalog. Analysis of such data can show me where to concentrate my creative energy for the next few years.
I analyzed instruments, gear, and repertoire of my solo electroacoustic sets from 2011 to 2022. For the sake of discussion, I categorize a set performance as a long-form performance (about 20 to 50 minutes) by artists without interruption or intermission. I find preparing, performing, and refining solo sets to be one of the best practices for live electronic music skills. In this article, I analyze the changes in hardware and repertoire in my solo electroacoustic performance by comparing video recordings of past shows. I hope the analysis serves the readers and me on what could be worth exploring in live electronic music.
Here are three video recordings of my solo sets as a point of reference.
The videos represent my performance practices in three periods in three cities I worked and lived: Philadelphia (2009-2014), Oberlin (2014-2016), and Detroit (2016-current). The oldest solo set video I could find is from 2011 in Seoul, but the above videos are unabridged and have direct outs from the house mixer.
Practicality and flexibility matter in a set performance. Venues have sound systems with varying designs, and sharing the stage with other artists doing a set is common. Therefore, I choose pieces according to the external limitations I cannot control. My gear is compact and travel-friendly to set up and strike quickly, regardless of the venue’s PA capacity. I plan 15 minutes or less to set up, get ready to go on stage, and carry an extra direct box and cables.
The most efficient setup could be solo laptop performance. But I am not inclined to present in that format as the audience cannot see movements behind the computer screen. The gear placement reinforces the visual cues in my shows. I value establishing a connection between what I do on stage and what the audience hears. In the reference videos above, the laptop is on the right side of the table. Most sound-generating objects and body actions are in the center and have an unobstructed view. When possible, I place the front panel of electronic instruments observable to the audience. For example, the picture below is my setup in October 2022. I put the gear on a piano bench for the audience to see the fingers moving across the buttons and sliders. The laptop created sound, but it was tucked below the bench. I launched the SuperCollider patch before the show and did not need to touch or look at it when performing. Not shown well in the picture is a small three-channel mixer on the floor. Like the laptop, there was no need to touch the mixer after the sound check, and it did not need to be on the table along with the instruments.
The diagram below depicts the connection of the hardware used in the set. The three boxes in the diagram contain the no-input mixer patching method, a list of SuperCollider patches, and compositions incorporated in the set. SuperCollider is the sole software I have used in solo performances since the early 2000s. No-input mixer patching details differ from artist to artist, and it is worth documenting my preferred patching for comparison. I will use the diagram in the same format for the 2016 and 2020 sets.
Hardware choices depend on the repertoire. The title track of the performances in 2013 was Toccata, an improvisational piece featuring a wooden board, various acoustic objects, and a live processing SuperCollider patch. A combination of a contact microphone and a small diaphragm condenser mic captured sent audio signals in the air and the board. The condenser mic doubled as an audio input for other pieces like Retrace, Introvert, and Elegy. Retrace is my first SuperCollider composition incorporating an acoustic instrument. The solo set format allowed me the repeated performance of Retrace and gave me multiple chances to refine it. The picture below, taken at a 2013 Indeterminacies series in Tennessee, is an example of a typical performance layout.
The microphones were connected to an audio interface with four inputs and outputs. Audio inputs 3 and 4 allowed me to connect outputs from a no-input mixer. In 2013, the sounds of the no-input mixer and the synths took up a small portion of the show. I used them for the first time to create videos for the 100 Strange Sounds project and was not proficient in performing them. From 2013-14, many objects I experimented with in 100 Strange Sounds became part of Toccata. It refined the piece composed in 2009 for four or more years.
Video projection was also part of a performance in 2013. Both Introvert and Elegy have accompanying videos, and I often used the laptop’s built-in camera to project the hand movement on the wooden board. The 2015 performance at New Music Gathering is an example of such a set. The on-stage live video reinforces the connection between what I do and what the audience hears, but not all venues can accommodate large-screen projection systems. Setting up a proper video meant extra tech time, a possible nuisance for tech people and other artists on the same show. The reduction in practicality led me to retire the video features from the set gradually.
I avoid unintentional silences between the pieces in a set performance. In 2013, I often played pre-recorded sounds while adjusting SuperCollider patches for the next piece. In 2016, all transitions became superpositions of the end of a piece and the beginning of the next one. The crossfade time got longer and smoother with more experience, blending multiple works. This approach stimulated new compositions combining two or more previously featured instruments. Consequently, my set became a single long-form improvisation featuring all the instruments I could carry comfortably. The 2016 WOBC video recording serves as an example.
Out-of-town gigs outnumbered in-town opportunities when I lived in Oberlin. Traveling with a carry-on bag full of gear became burdensome, and thus I sought to develop a set with as few instruments as possible without degrading the quality. In 2015, I had an opportunity to perform on a double-decker tour bus. The setup time was short, and the performance space was small due to the particular nature of the gig. So I chose to abandon the laptop, the instrument I am most skilled at, and performed with a no-input mixer and a monophonic synthesizer. The success and fun I had in the gig encouraged me to add more non-computer elements to the set.
By 2016, I felt at home performing with a contact mic and found objects. But doing so felt less exciting and challenging. In contrast, my interest in drum machines and MIDI controllers grew. The resulting pieces were Cobalt Vase and Page Turner’s Agony. By combining Cobalt Vase with no-input mixing, I composed Func Step Mode. These three pieces are currently the main ingredients of my solo set of electronics-only improvisation. The video made for La Escucha Como Acción’s COVID online performance series is an example.
The current set does not include visually expressive works like Toccata. Microphones and found objects are absent, limiting sonic and visual possibilities. But I gained mobility and a chance to showcase my skills on specific instruments in return. The set sends mono output and can work without an audio interface. The output choice is efficient but could be risky in a genre that values high-fidelity and multi-channel audio. But I identify the most with the sound of the current set.
Reviewing a decade of set performances was an opportunity to evaluate what I value most in live electroacoustic music. I value practicality and refinement. I accept that practicality gets priority over aesthetics in my music. Some pieces are no longer in the setlist because they involve more physical labor and are prone to technical errors. The longest surviving instrument over a decade, besides SuperCollider, is a no-input mixer: it takes a short time to set up and is immune to software updates. This reliability led to more time spent with the mixer. A deliberate decision on one instrument is worth noting in technology-based performance, in which one can access an uncountable number of synthesizers and controllers. Currently, I feel proficient at performing a no-input mixer. I am developing a similar feeling toward Korg Volca Beats. Efficiency affects aesthetic choices in my music.
I recommend designing, executing, and revising a solo set for electronic musicians. Preparing and practicing sets builds muscle memory and opportunities to overcome weaknesses. Compositions featured in a set get continuously refined with repeated performances. Combining and remixing works in a set often inspires new compositions. The refining process is a luxury for compositions written for others, but set performances demand it by nature.
In Nested Duets, an ensemble of any size and kind can improvise with one or more laptops running a generative music app. The computer has two roles: it provides possible pitch choices for the human performers and creates accompanying electronic sounds. The performance instruction is on the computer screen.
DropBox Download: contains instructions and SuperCollider file
Performers: Kevin Declaire, Samuel Khalil, De’Andre Little, Jose Llanas, Logan Macka, Lucas Manther, James McCloskey, Joseph Mcelwain, Mal McNitt, Niko Poljanac-Leboeuf, Christopher Reid, Abby Thibodeau, Nathan Zonnevylle
Recording Team: Sinead Cassar, Kevin Declaire, Logan Macka, James McCloskey, Niko Poljanac-Leboeuf, Christopher Reid
Nested Duets was part of the 2022 Black Mountain College Radio Art program. 103.3 Asheville FM’s Lucid aired the piece on December 12, 2022. Electronic Music Ensemble of Wayne State (EMEWS) thanks BMC and 103.3 Asheville FM for the opportunity!