Out-of-Control Feedback Systems and Collaborative Influence with the Instrumentalist Mixer Feedback Transmutation System

Nolan Hildebrand; Timothy Roth

Out-of-Control Feedback Systems and Collaborative Influence with the Instrumentalist Mixer Feedback Transmutation System
Image credit: Nolan Hildebrand; Timothy Roth

Abstract:

This paper explores the Instrumentalist Mixer Feedback Transmutation (IMFT) system, a modification of the typical no-input mixer paradigm meant for collaborative improvisatory performance (formally called NIMB+)[9]. IMFT occurs when an instrumentalist is patched into a mixing board with feedback loops (a.k.a no-input mixer). The instrumentalist interacts and influences the mixer’s feedback together with another performer operating the mixer. Introducing an instrument into the no-input mixer’s previously closed system creates possibilities for new collaborative interactions between humans and chaotic feedback systems. In this system, a chaotic, out-of-control relationship can be formed where the output of the mixer and the gestures from the mixer performer can be in battle with the input from the instrumentalist and vice-versa. After a brief historical contextualization of mixer feedback, the IMFT system and the complex relationships that form between human and machine are introduced. No-input mixer performance practices are discussed, followed by exploration of a single feedback loop to illustrate some of the mixer’s possible sound worlds and the nature of the instrument. Performance experiences from two recent compositions by the first author, generative open graphic score #1 (2023) and noise ritual (2023), are described in order to explore different performance interactions created by different instrumentalists working with the IMFT system. This practice-based research provides a useful case study examining the entangled relationship between performers and interfaces in feedback-based music systems and how innovative approaches to an established electronic practice can create new perspectives and collaborative opportunities.