Reno Tour (Sixth Assignment)

My guided tour will take people to hidden gems downtown that have unique histories. These histories are so strange that there's no way that they could possibly exist, and they don't! I will be making up historical events at specific sites. Throughout the tour, I will talk about Reno, the monuments, our culture, and infuse some light music with added interactivity and commentary as the participants tour the town.


This map highlights the route and specific areas of focus.

Soundpainting with Walter Thompson (Lecture Review)

I've never been a fan of the requirement to take MUS100 (Concert Class) but on October 6th, 2015, a change in the schedule was made and Walter Thompson came to give a lecture on soundpainting. Soundpainting is an art form Thompson created as a response to traditional composing and conducting. The conductor composes on the spot and the orchestra performs based on the gestures of the conductor. There are over 1,200 gestures in soundpainting and while that may seem overwhelming, they are simple and intuitive enough that memorizing them is easy.

I'm glad that a music lecture tied in so well with our Sound and Image class because it really ties class together. The improvisation of conducting and the orchestra and audience getting involved made it more of performance art than traditional music. It may also be considered avant-garde because of how unconventional it is.

Thompson spoke about how there are numerous countries all over the world that have adapted soundpainting into their repertoire. There also aren't any language barriers in soundpainting because the gestures are universal and it is similar to basic sign language. Thompson asked the audience to come up on stage if they had an instrument and he gave a demonstration on how soundpainting worked. I was surprised that the orchestra remembered 20 different signs and paid enough attention to be synchronized.

Soundpainting breaks down the walls of traditional music because nothing is written down and everyone has their attention on the conductor. The conductor and orchestra are also really the only ones who understand the signs so an uninitiated audience may think the conductor is overly expressive and the music is just bizarre. Walter Thompson also stresses the importance of fun over accuracy. If one laughs or plays the wrong part, keep going and don't stifle any outbursts. It's spontaneity that Thompson finds most fascinating.

Thompson also got the audience involved with some signs and the fourth wall was broken when the audience and orchestra battled back and forth, playing off each other  and creating some really interesting sound experiences. I found the lecture and demonstration absolutely enthralling and really enjoyed how different the whole thing was. My ideas of music performance were shattered and this new improvised way of composing and playing really opened my eyes to a new world of sound art.

"Bury On, Cosby" (Video Diptych) (Fifth Assignment)

This video provides a look into what my two independent videos look like together in a diptych format. In a real exhibition setting, each video plays on its own projector for maximum 16:9 quality.

My clips were chosen from random moments in my daily life. I used Max MSP and various Vizzie settings for the effects. Adobe Premiere was used to compile everything and I picked my favorite clips, chopped them up, and put them in completely random orders. I chose a random order because of the excitement of seeing what could come up when I blindly move things around. The Vizzie settings were intentional and chosen for the unique blends that each made when layered on top of each other.