Hands-on (Hands), live video mixing/music performance with musician Justin Haynes, 15 min.
Documentation: 5min.
Video mixing with two live cameras trained on pianist Justin Haynes’ hands as he improvises to the video-mixed projection of his hands improvising. The approach to video mixing (like the piano playing) is hands-on: changes are made in-camera (no software) on the fly to create effects (exposure, shutter speed, focal distance and focus) and a stand-alone video mixer with my hand on a T-bar is used to to create the projected video mix. Piano preparation: contact mic on the piano pushes an acoustic signal through stomp boxes (wha and flerb) then into a mixer, and then out to two tiny, dangling cigarette-box amplifiers. With this small preparation the pianist is able to distort, sustain, de-tune, filter, feedback and affect the space around the acoustic sound of the piano, achieving timbers that range from bucolic to abrasive.
Performed at Toronto’s Festival of House Culture, July 5, 2014.