Plate Spinning
For some reason plate spinning got into my head as my method of performance. There is something really physical and chaotic with plate spinning that is like a magic show. Never do I get nervous when watching a guitar player on stage… mistakes do not seem as eminent or catastrophic—and that is an interesting aspect to bring to the stage, catastrophe.
After thinking about the music I want to create and plate spinning, I decided I would focus on that moment when the plate loses critical momentum, goes wobbly, and falls. What would it be like to have a sample tied to that organic decay? Through extending that ‘organic decay’ concept I think I can create a couple contraptions that use forces and breakdown of those forces to control the playback of samples, probably with granular synthesis.
It is also important for me to make sure the audience clearly sees the connection between an individual sample’s playback and the entropy of an object, i.e. be sure that I am not faking it with switches and whatnot.
As far as methods go I have come up with a couple: (see sketches)
1. Actual plate/disc spinning. I think this is a familiar metaphor and maybe something to introduce the concept (rotateion/energy is related to playback of sample).
2. Parachute men with proximity sensors: I would throw them up and how far they are from the ground controls a sample… I could also catch them mid-fall, re-throw, or drop, many possibilities.
3. Floating or hovering ball/paper… this could add some really nice random data to the mix, it would be like one of those ping-pong balls in a tube floating by air machines.