Intro
In this portfolio I will analyse and reflect the process that went into preparing and performing my six-minute electronic performance. Reflecting on this year, I began experimenting with the TR8-S and the Korg Prologue, using them to create ambient soundscapes with simple heavily effected back beats. Taking what we learnt in seminars into the box and creating my own live sounds. Reflecting on my ideas I used the techniques in both my university work and my own compositions. Manipulating the boundaries of electronic equipment.
Inspiration and Development
I began to experiment with Logic Live loops, using Logic stock synthesisers to create short loops with different loop lengths, creating randomness and a ‘wall of sound’ (The Red News, 2025) style production. Taking Inspiration from Phil Spector’s production style, layering lead lines, bass and drones to create a wide detailed sound scape, specifically using large hall reverbs to widen the stereo image.
I took what I learnt from ‘Wall of Sound’ production and expanded on it. Taking inspiration from artists such as Brian Enoand how he was inspired by Steve Reich, creating music that changes depending on how the consumer listens. Using panning and volume automation in the box on my Live loops to evolve the sound and keep the performance interesting. Inspired by Steve Reich and his Tape Loops, creating randomness by playing different loops simultaneously at different loop speeds causing each loop to slowly fall out of time and phase slightly, aiming to create movement and development in my piece. The randomness created by my chosen loops aims to create an immersive listening experience, where the audience becomes aware of changes over time depending on how they listen. The transitions are smoother with each loop merging into one and separating individually, creating a complex yet minimal sound.
Going Further I wanted to find a way to add drums to my performance using the TR8 and TR8-S drum machine. To do this I took inspiration from artists such as Four Tet and his Organic House album New Energy, his use of ambient instrumentation loops and drums gave me the idea to develop my piece further. Adding simple drum beats to give the performance movement and a backbeat, aiming for a minimal ambient sound.
During a Seminar we discussed Dub music and Soundsystem culture, with music from artists such as Scientist. Dub and Sound system originated in Jamica in the late 60s, dub artist would take recordings and remix them live adding large reverbs and delays using outboard equipment. I implemented aspects of this into my live performance, taking inspiration from The Scientist’s album ‘The Scientist – Meets the Crazy Cad Professor at channel one studio’. Using the TR8s effects like reverb and delay, manipulating them live to add movement and interest to the drum beat.
Electronic Equipment
At the start of the year, we experimented with various electronic instruments including synthesisers, drum machines, loopers and vocal effects. After practice in seminars and further research into artists and genres I felt that I worked best with the Roland TR8 drum machine and the Korg Prologue synthesiser. Both instruments being the most enjoyable and intuitive, both being something I could see myself performing with in the future.
In the performance I use the Korg Prologue to create a droning pad that evolves into a lead line as the piece progresses. The prologue is an analogue digital hybrid with its 8-voice capability the prologue can be used in polyphonic, monophonic, unison and a chord mode. Powered by two analogue oscillators, an analogue filter and an analogue amplifier (Gordon Reid, 2018), the possibilities were endless. I personally enjoyed how intuitive the prologue control was, making it easy to pick up if you were new to synthesisers and even easier if you have experience. I especially enjoyed the integrated effects, reverb and delay. Allowing me to add another wide layer to my ‘wall of sound’ style production (The Red News, 2025). When designing the sound chosen for performance, I took inspiration from ‘Be God to Me Poly’ by Youandewan and his use of droning synthesis and repetition, he uses high pass filters to keep the synth line interesting as the track progresses. Similarly in my performance I used a triangle wave and manually changed the filter cutoff and LFO rate and intensity to constantly evolve and change the soundwave, keeping my track interesting. I chose the synth sound used as it fit int the mix without being too prominent to where it took attention away from the main focal point (live loops and drums) instead it added texture and depth.
Taking my influence further, I enjoyed Youandewan’s use of programmed drums, creating an ethereal atmosphere with synthesisers and organic sounds, then adding a backbeat to give the listener something to grasp and focus on. To do this I used the Roland TR8, Youandewan takes inspiration from places such as Chicago, Detroit, New York and Berlin. I took this and integrated it into my drums mixing a simple four on the floor beat with disco, boom bap and house style percussion. After I reached a point in the performance where I felt happy, I added dub style effects, manually automating in reverb and delay to the hats, snare and sometimes the whole kit. I chose to use this technique as it added further depth to my performance creating a wider stereo image, also allowing me to control where each instrument sat in the stereo field.
The TR8 is a digital drum machine sequencer, a recreation of the TR808 and TR909 (Paul Nagle, 2014) two of the most desired and popularised drum machines ever made. During seminars we worked with the TR8-S, a more recent model of the TR8, with a screen display and added controls, allowing the user to add their own samples and navigate the machine in more detail that the previous TR8. When it came to the day of my performance the TR8-S was not available. If I were to perform this piece again, I would most definitely choose the TR8-S over the TR8, I find the TR8-S to be more intuitive and allow for father control than the TR8. I especially enjoyed the wide range of kits available on the TR8-S, allowing the user to change each drum allows the TR8 to be completely customisable. Another key feature I enjoyed was the Glitch Mob allowing the user to add a stutter glitch effect to the beat. This worked perfectly for transitions and a change of mood in my performance. The decision to keep a minimal drum pattern was intentional, allowing the textural elements like live loops and synths to remain the main focal point of the performance rather than dominating the piece.
I also wanted to incorporate Live looping into my performance after researching Steve Reich and his work using Tape Loops to create an ambient loop. Steve Reich discovered his love for tape loops after recording a church preacher on two different tape machines, as he played them back the two slowly separated, and what some musicians would call imperfections, created a new out of phase sound. Although I could not perfectly replicate this in Logic as everything is recorded on a grid, instead I created multiple loops all looping at different lengths. As the loops played they all triggered at different times, this creating a similar sound to Steve Reich’s tape loops. While Reich’s techniques rely on physical process-based composition, I adapted my composition into a digital environment using structured sequencing with the TR8 and perceived randomness with Logic live loops. The loops were made up of logic stock synthesisers such as the ES1, EFM1 and Retro Synth, using the synths to create layers of pads, drones, bass and lead, all of which were heavily affected with large hall reverbs, echo delay and automated high filters and panning automation. My aim with these loops was to create ethereal randomness, a ‘wall of sound’ style production with multiple layers that create a broad stereo image. The synths merged into one and separated as the performance progressed.
While the use of layered live loops created the dense ambient textures I was aiming for, at times there were a lack of harmonic variation which left some of the performance feeling repetitive. In future performances, I will introduce variations of each loop to keep listener engagement without compromising the minimal ambient aesthetic. This approach has changed how I see performance, changing it from repetitive loops to a more improvisational performance with more variation to keep audience engagement throughout the performance, especially within ambient and house genres, where artists use repetitive parts with small variation.
Capturing the Performance
Before the performance I had to plan how the performance would be recorded to best show everything that I was doing. To capture the recording, I used my phone camera and a tripod. Recording the audio into Logic using the 108a mixing studio. I first screen recorded myself performing the live loops using my MacBook keyboard to trigger each loop. Then adding the TR8 using my phone to record my performance and logic to capture the audio, I used a midi cable to match the BPM with Logic on my laptop. On the first practice performance the TR8 didn’t quite stay in time with the previous Logic recordings but after the seminar on the 24th of April I learnt that I had to install drivers and use a USB A to USB B cable to link the clock between logic and the TR8.
Finally, I recorded the Korg Prologue, again using my phone and a tripod to record the performance and Logic to capture the audio.
Reflecting on this, when it came to editing the performance, I chose to use the phone audio from the Prologue recording. I preferred the audio mix of the capture compared to the levels shown on Logic. I also had problems matching the timing for the logic session and the phone video captures. If I were to perform again, I would use a clap or countdown at the start of the video allowing me to line up the Logic session with the video capture easier in the editing stages.
Theoretical Framework
During the pre-planning stages of my live performance, I researched theories behind what makes a live electronic performance. The Sounding out article by (Primusluta,2013) discusses how to put live electronic performances into musical context by determining what type of performance is being observed. The user Primusluta discusses their four distinctions “to compare and describe live electronic performance”. The first being the manipulation of pre-recorded sounds into “variable performance”. The second is the manipulation of electronic instruments. The third is the use of manipulating electronic instruments by programming machines. Finally, the last is the combination of any of the other three theories. Linking this to my own practice, I believe that I used the fourth distinction, mixing pre recorded sounds with live electronic instrumentation that had been further manipulated with effects like reverb, delay, glitch, LFO and filters. Reflecting on this, I believe I could have added more live manipulation to my pre-recorded loops, I used post automation during the sound design stage before my performance. However, in future performances I plan to use a midi controller to affect the loops and electronic equipment live, treating the performance like more of a dub, with potential use for a looper, allowing me to manipulate the track rather than individual elements.
With further research I found that the “minimalist aesthetic depends on repetition, rhythmic progression and harmonic dissonance that resolves over the course of a movement” (MaterClass, 2021). Minimalism can be heard in works by prominent composers such as Steve Reich and Phillip Glass. Many minimal pieces use traditional instruments such as piano and string instruments to create steady pulses and drones. According to (MaterClass,2021) the minimalist movement began in the New York avant-garde classical scene in the 1960s played in concert houses and music academies. I took inspiration from Steve Reich and his minimalist work with tape loops and tape recordings, with Reich’s fist minimalist composition ‘It’s Gonna Rain’ which made using heavily manipulated tape recordings of a street preacher. Steve Reich’s work went on to inspire prominent composers like Brian Eno and his ambient works (Nonesuch, 2025). I implemented practices from both Eno’s work such as ‘Music for Airports’ and Steve Reich’s Tape loops on ‘It’s Gonna Rain’. This is shown in my performance using logic live loops and ambient sound design.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this project allowed me to develop my understanding of live performance and electronic instruments. Providing me with the knowledge that I can take into future performances. In future, I aim to improve upon the performance by fixing the timing issues that occurred during the editing stage of my performance. Next time, using a clap or a count down at the beginning of my recording. Expanding on this, I learnt in the seminars that I can use a USB A to USB B cable to link the BPM clock of the TR8 to logic making the timing easier to match, therefore saving me time in the editing stages and improving the tightness of future performances. My practice has changed with my new expanded knowledge on synthesis and envelopes. Understanding how to design the sound I require for each project myself, this making my future compositions and performances unique and creative. Overall, I believe my performance was successful, yet I have areas that need improvement such as timing issues and expanding on what I have learnt about electronic performance and electronic equipment.
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