Pile of Wires is an ensemble born out of the strong electronic music tradition of California State University Long Beach, where we met as members of the CSU Long Beach Laptop Ensemble. Made up of Sean Jones, Cameron Johnston, and David García Saldaña, and with the guidance of Dr. Martin Herman, we have enjoyed exciting performance opportunities like the annual GArdenME event in the Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden, the Long Beach Art Walk, as well as several performances on campus and in Los Angeles, like soundpedro.

[Pile of Wires] will put the name of the ensemble to the test. The work will be an evening length installation with interactive sensors and projections. The core of the piece will involve three laptop stations, each with their own interface and speakers. Each member of the ensemble will create their own patch in Max/MSP with the ability to send and receive MIDI and audio. These patches will essentially be giant sequencers, activating a variety of audio samples, synthesizers, MIDI events, and video synthesis. Each member of the ensemble will be connected to one another and will be sending and receiving data from the other members. This data will manipulate the sequence and events in each patch, creating an infinitely complex sequence that will transform and evolve the entire night. In addition: sensors connected to the laptops can be activated by audience members, which will further manipulate the sequence. Finally, all the sound and data will be channeled into a video manipulation algorithm, which will manipulate and synthesize video that will be projected onto the wall. The ensemble will collect audio and video samples around Sound Pedro and Angels Gate to use in the piece. The piece will create a thick and complex texture that will feature micro and macro changes, as to stay interesting to those who stay and watch, and those who visit many times over the course of the evening.