SUBCLASS
// Sonic UBC Laptop Sounds and Sensors (SUBCLASS) | Laptop Orchestra (2018 - 2019)
SUBCLASS is a student ensemble directed by Dr. Bob Pritchard and Dr. Keith Hamel that meets weekly at the Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems (ICICS) Sound Studio. I took part in this laptop orchestra through an Interactive Performance Systems course within UBC’s Minor in Applied Music Technology program where students from various fields of study (e.g. computer science, engineering, music, biology...) work jointly on interactive performance works. It is entirely projects-based, heavily collaborative, and involves integrating multiple digital technologies into live concert performances.
"The UBC Laptop Orchestra is an ensemble in which students code their own computer instruments or audio/video processes. Those systems are then controlled through gesture tracking of traditional instruments, dance, piano or string performance, or by using webcams, Kinects, Wiis, accelerometers, game controls, custom circuits, Arduinos, iPhones, iPads, or other tablets. Students compose solo, small ensemble and full group works, and are expected to perform or provide technical support in all works."
SUBCLASS was a formative experience that persuaded me to pursue an artistic career path. While students take on many roles including that of dancers and musicians, my primary involvement in this ensemble was in creative code: using visual scripting languages such as MaxMSP/Jitter and game engines like Unity for a variety of interactions, sounds, and tools for our resulting performances.
Feel free to browse the below concerts, projects, gallery, and the 2018 - 2019 SUBCLASS Blog!
// Jupiter Rising
Interactive Gestural-Tracking Performance for Horn, Percussion, Piano, Dance, and Electronics (2018)
(with Cindy Chow, Emily Daily, Graeme Fugger, and Michael Kirchmayer)
Performance for 2018 WinterBang! Festival at Roy Barnett Recital Hall, Vancouver, BC.
// Reincarnation
Interactive Mixed-Media Performance for Acoustic Guitar, Dance, DMX Lighting, and Electronics (2019)
(with Galen Allan, Danny Choi, Gemma Tomasky, and Julia Zhu)
Performance for 2019 Bang! Festival at Roy Barnett Recital Hall, Vancouver, BC.
Reincarnation is a three-movement voyage throughout different environments: digital, virtual, and live. Inspired by the season of spring and its accompanying themes of birth and hopefulness, a character jitters in and out of various digital realms and seasons to be reborn in her final destined world: ours.
The last movement of Reincarnation involves teleporting our live dancer into a virtual universe I created in Unity. It involved recording dance movements at the UBC Arts ISIT (Instructional Support and Information Technology) Recording Studio against a green screen to place her into a Unity universe of five separate environments.
// Home | Quartet for Controllers and Electronics (2018)
(with Pinia Chandra, Michael Di Spirito, and Danny Choi)
// Drawing Down the Moon | Interactive Colour-Tracking Performance for Pen, Paper, and Electronics (2018)
(with Michael Kirchmayer, Liam Read, and Ramsey Sadaka)
// Equilibrium | Interactive Audiovisual Performance for Dance, Lighting, and Electronics (2019)
(with Cindy Chow, Ollie Rosario, and Gemma Tomasky)
// Beep Boop in One Movement | Quintet for Controllers and Electronics (2019)
(with Danny Choi, Graeme Fugger, Michael Kirchmayer, and Leo Lin)
