What if your instrument is invisible?

Abstract

As an electronic musician I am largely occupied with capturing and manipulation of sound in real time-specifically the sound of instruments being played by other musicians. Also being a singer, I’ve found that both of my instruments are often perceived as '‘invisible’'. This article discusses various strategies I developed, over a number of years, in order to '‘play’’ sound manipulations in musically reactive ways, to create a live sound-processing '‘instrument’'. Problems were encountered in explaining what I do to other musicians, audience, and audio engineers about what I do, technically and musically. These difficulties caused me to develop specific ways to address the aesthetic issues of live sound-processing, and to better incorporate my body into performance, both of which ultimately helped alleviate the invisibility problem and make better music.