This week’s session was a visit from Megan Steinberg of Drake Music, which is the organisation responsible for the second path of this project. It was very interesting, but it hasn’t swayed me on doing that pathway really, as I am not so technologically proficient. But I did like seeing the instrument examples given, especially the less digital modes like the pedal-based guitar to fret the strings. I have seen a couple of the instruments used before as well, the Linnstrument I have seen online and the Mimu gloves, I think I’ve seen at a concert last year, so it’s quite exciting for them to be used in this kind of context of increasing accessibility of playing music.

This has however not swayed me on what I would like to be doing, so I decided to go ahead and ask my friends who I am doing the heavy drone group with at the moment if they would be down for trying a performance, since a space by my house has opened that is quite cheap to rent for performances and I feel like people I know would most likely come to see and perform if I give enough of a heads up. So far, it seems like everyone is down to try something. The idea I have right now is wanting to create something from the amplification of spray paint on a surface, as a performance that leaves behind remnants is quite beautiful to me, so having the sound of the dramatic creation of work would be a good method of this, and both Prince and Izzy do beautiful artwork. They are on board from having spoken to them, so I have asked if they want to try jam next Sunday, as I will be in the City. It seems like it will be happening, at least to play music if not to practice this specifically, but meeting in person might help bring together some more ideas of what could be done to be exciting within the performance space even if I don’t have everything needed to make this work yet, but I do have spray paint and a lot of metal at home that I can use a contact mic on, so we can try a primitive attempt to work out Gate sensitivity and the characteristics of the sound.

I have not contacted Igor Ruz, I feel out of my comfort zone sending cold emails to people who don’t know I exist, so I think that idea might be dead in the water, or maybe possible with another artist with similar interests to Igor that I would know online or in person (although the already pre-existing interest in The Green Elephant would not be there most likely). I think it’s best to just see if my friends are up for doing this first, and seeing how this goes, seeing what ideas emerge from it.