DESCRIPTION:
Performance piece as part of Dialogues Festival, Edinburgh, March 2006.

This piece was an attempt to move away from the computer as a primary interface and move towards a more natural means of sound generation and performance. Following some previous experiments of recording underwater sounds with a submerged dynamic microphone wrapped in a condom, came the idea of passing sound through water as if it were an effects unit. Using some small portable speakers also inserted into condoms, I began experimenting with generating sound and passing it through water and sampling it through a submerged microphone. After recording a library of sounds both through the water and using a Korg MS2000 and tape effects, some musical sketches were composed. Using these sketches I built a patch for performance in MaxMSP that allowed for control of both direct dry sound, and the wet sound passed through the water. The resulting soundscape piece was performed live (after some extensive EQ fiddling and feedback catching with tireless sound-hero Alex Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes) whilst manipulating the water by stirring, splashing and blowing bubbles.