I helped Tyondai Braxton with a live electronic music rig and max/msp patch that allowed me to create a diverse palette of timbres through a variety of methods. The custom software allowed me to quickly create and recall presets that rerouted audio, set values and remapped physical knobs to parameters so I could focus on performing rather than complex routing schemes and FX chains. 

Central Market was performed at the Barbican Centre, the Walker Art Center, the Library of Congress, Lincoln Center, the Walt Disney Concert Hall and Le Poisson Rouge.

Features:

• Analog and DSP Processing of Guitar, Vocals and Feedback

• Sound Synthesis with Tempo Sync from Guitar

• Percussive Sample Triggering

• Backing Tracks in Short Sections
  

Software Description:

Audio files load into a grid of samplers corresponding to trigger finger pads. Each sampler allows control of volume, FX mix, looping, speed of playback relative to master BPM, and latch/loop/one-shot triggering. I can adjust the volume or FX mix of individual samplers by triggering a sample and adjusting the sliders on the left side of my trigger finger.

The knobs at the top of the GUI correspond to the knobs at the top of a trigger finger and can be mapped to variables by simply typing the name of the parameter below the knob.

The knobs near the top right corner control four routing schemes involving 2 audio inputs and 4 audio outputs. This was key to performing with Ty because there are several points at which he needs to create mic feedback, run his guitar through my FX chain, bus in feedback created in a Mackie mixer, run my vocals through my FX chain and run his guitar and the Mackie feedback through a couple of guitar pedals that I play.

On the right side of the GUI is a single FX chain that runs audio from top to bottom. Samplers and external audio inputs can be mixed into this chain and subsequently mixed back in with dry audio. Onscreen FX parameters are controllable with the knobs at the top of the screen. 

The small square in the top right corner is a simple timer that displays minutes and seconds to help keep time through rhythmically free sections.

There are several sections that can’t be seen in this GUI image and they include: A 4-voice stereo audio player/looper, Midi Slave capability so I can slave to Ty’s echoplex, midi routing, and automated file management.

Almost every onscreen parameter and a few offscreen parameters are controllable by preset “scenes” that are named and highlighted on the menu at the top left corner of the patch. This allows me to quickly change a large number of parameters by simply pushing “+” or “-” on my computers keyboard. This was key to quickly switching between the extremely disparate setups between songs that also involved the changing of settings on guitar pedals and the moving of a microphone.