Performance 1

City Night Rain is an improvisation inspired by the various walks I have had in the rain coming back from University at night-time, usually after a recording session. Every sound that you hear on this track is created and manipulated within Ableton Live and using Push 2. The only pre-prepared music is the audio file of the rain which forms an unsettling harmonic and textural drone throughout. As a fan of mathematics, this improvisation is based on many probability parameters that I adjust throughout. In particular, pay attention to the drums - where I set probabilities on the individual notes so that the machine generates new rhythmic ideas. As the groove fades away - I use my own technique 'Probability Decrescendo' which instead of a typical decrescendo in dynamic, I reduce the probability of different drum sounds so that it naturally fades to almost nothing. It might not be noticeable on the video but I do go for the minimal approach with pads and dials, only mapping vital instruments and parameters. Each dial and drum sound is used at least once in this performance. 

Note that this was performed in a live recording session. We only had time for 3 takes so it's as close to a live Zoom performance as I can get it. My CPU won't take on a screen record whilst Ableton is running. Hopefully, the video compensates and is a better representation of the performance and the technology behind it.

STARTING DIALS ON PUSH II