Natural Planes of Separation

Natural Planes of Separation was originally presented as a performable installation, where subtle changes in the audio and video streams were controlled by a Max patch generating random curves. The source video came from recordings of hourglass tea timers while the audio was generated by placing eBows on several strings of a grand piano. The possibility exists for a live performer to interact with the installation by moving the eBows to different strings (changing the harmony) or by improvising with the piano. A fixed version of the piece was created in 2023 with the same source video but a new soundtrack that blends audio from multiple sources, including synth patches that emulate the eBow piano sounds and improvised saxophone gestures.