ADDRESSING THE NETWORK: PERFORMATIVE STRATEGIES FOR PLAYING APART
Franziska Schroeder, Alain Renaud, Pedro Rebelo, Fernando Gualda · University of Michigan Library Repository · 2007
This paper describes a recent network music performance (NMP) study that was carried out at the Sonic Arts Research Centre in Belfast in March 2007. We refer to this study as the “Apart Project”. This study is unique in that a wide variety of novel network scenarios were tested. A vast database of movie and sound files has been created as a result of this work. For this study, three professional musicians, a pianist, a saxophonist and a percussionist, were placed in three separate studios at the Sonic Arts Research Centre (SARC) and were asked to perform two pieces under different conditions. These conditions simulate geographically displaced network performance through, for example, the introduction of differing latencies. One of the scenarios, in which computer-generated graphics (Avatars) were introduced for testing the performer interactions, will be described in more detail. This paper provides an insight into the cultural implications of the network as a site for performance. It also describes the various set-ups of the “Apart Project”, the use of graphics for performers ’ communication and highlights some important musical issues inherent to network music environments. 1.