Title: Autoharp
Category: Performance
Year: 2000
Synopsis: "Autoharp" consists of custom software & hardware, video & audio elements in the setting of a live improvised performance. Due to improvisation and chance occurrences introduced by the software, no two performances are alike. For example, when a string is plucked, it will play a video/sound clip at a range, musically speaking, any note within a range of +/- 3 semitones. So, the tonality of the piece is completely indeterminant. The imagery, while mostly abstract in style, nonetheless contains objects which are figurative/recognizable.

Production Notes:
The starting point for this piece was to gather short audio samples from the various string instruments that I play, such as guitar, viola, mandolin, bass, etc. Then, video clips were edited to match the sounds. During the performance, plucking the strings triggers playback of up 6 video clips at a time. The custom software also randomizes the width of the video clips as they display on screen, creating intentional redrawing problems of the white border around the video clips.