Preparing a collaborative music performance involving 3 co-located performers, 6 distributed performers and an AI agent mixing local and remote sound sources (sometimes delayed by up to 20.3 seconds) so the output can be spatialised over 8-channel speakers is no mean feat!
Add to that: ‘making friends’ with a borrowed cello that has different acoustic properties to the one you are usually playing (Magda); obtaining permissions to record a bell-ringing practice of the famous Durham Cathedral from the internal courtyard closed for construction so these recordings can be played from the Bitwig studio session together with the other locally recorded soundscapes (Nela) and getting the SuperCollider patch working with a whole roster of other software receiving live audio streams in a 10 minute break, whilst sitting in the middle of the performance space surrounded by the inquisitive audience comprising of electroacoustic composers (Shelly) and you quickly realise why getting enough sleep, eating good food, drinking good coffee and indulging in occasional beer, chocolate and gluten treat is a must for keeping the FLO team going! That and a good pair of walking shoes!
A HUGE THANK YOU to our collaborators (Joanne Armitage, Lina Bautista, Alexandra Cardenas, Libertad Figueroa, Jenny Pickett and Andrea Young), SuperCollider guru (Holgar Ballweg), Durham University Music Department staff and students, Marrie Wisson (Volunteers Manager at Durham Cathedral) and Christopher Crabtree (in charge of the bell-ringing troops at Durham Cathedral amongst other amazing things!).
One down, more to go!
The photos below say it all (as does the sound recording of the performance on Soundcloud and the video on our YouTube channel!)
FLO 