Integrating Sensor Technology into Artistic Practice: A critical examination of the role of the performer

This research questions how interactive music technology might enable creativity in performers. The format is a semi-autoethnographic narrative that follows the performer’s artistic process of preparing nine compositions for performance; these works are for bass clarinet or clarinet and live processing (created with Ableton Live, Max for Live, and the SABRe multi-sensor and remote). In order to conduct this research, I remixed two existing bass clarinet works, collaborated with two composers on six new works, and composed my own piece. I maintained a reflective journal for four and a half years that documented the process of preparing these compositions for performance. Excerpts from this journal are interwoven throughout the main text of this thesis and provide insight into the activities of music practice and performance, programming, collaboration, improvisation, remixing, and composition. The findings from this research highlight the human aspect of using technology in performance and demonstrate that technology can expand the practice of performers. As both the programmer and performer, I found that my performance practice informed how I programmed the sensors, and programming in turn affected how I practiced. The sensors required me to make decisions on how physical movements would affect the live electronics, thus causing me to reconsider the connection between my mind and body in performance. Additionally, the process of deciding how to integrate the sensors in performance compelled me to look inward at my own practice and question preconceived ideas of creativity. Ultimately, this research provides an in-depth look into contemporary performance practice, while also offering several new approaches to using interactive music technology in performance.