Garcia (2021) for Mubone

Kalun Leung

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract

This performance is part of an ongoing series of collective creations for the mubone augmented trombone and is the culmination of the Mubone Research & Creation Project that instrument designer Travis West and I began in 2019. After 3 years of developing and prototyping primarily in solo contexts, we began exploring new interdisciplinary pathways for the mubone through the creation of three new artworks. Each work pairs me, the mubonist, with an artist from another discipline - choreography/movement, composition/sound art, and new media. The mubone is an augmented instrument that tracks the orientation of the host object, a trombone, which effectively captures the performer’s movements for the purposes of real-time recording, playback, layering, and processing vis-à-vis a virtual 3D environment and a bespoke granular synthesis engine called mugranular. A Nintendo Switch Joy-Con is used for basic interfacing with a Max/MSP patch. Mubones are like trombones; they are a type of instrument that anyone can, in principle, make and play. There is not a single capital-M "Mubone". Garcia is the result of the pairing with choreographer Bettina Szabo. Our collaboration approach focused on centering choreography, movement, and gesture in an attempt to foreground these elements in the work. We mapped out the choreography before drafting the sound score; this approach contributed to a convincing performance that showcases the capacity for the mubone to achieve a symbiotic relationship between the movement, sound, and electronics. The piece is autobiographical and explores themes around immigration, otherness, and social acceptance. These are challenges that we shared as first generation immigrants to Canada. The structure of the piece follows a chronological timeline beginning with naive childhood curiosity and continuing with an adulthood consumed by memory reactivation, and finally ending with the fragility and nostalgia in old age.

Citation

Kalun Leung. 2022. Garcia (2021) for Mubone. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.21428/92fbeb44.e048e4b7 [PDF]

BibTeX Entry

@inproceedings{nime2022_music_16,
 abstract = {This performance is part of an ongoing series of collective creations for the mubone augmented trombone and is the culmination of the Mubone Research & Creation Project that instrument designer Travis West and I began in 2019. After 3 years of developing and prototyping primarily in solo contexts, we began exploring new interdisciplinary pathways for the mubone through the creation of three new artworks. Each work pairs me, the mubonist, with an artist from another discipline - choreography/movement, composition/sound art, and new media. The mubone is an augmented instrument that tracks the orientation of the host object, a trombone, which effectively captures the performer’s movements for the purposes of real-time recording, playback, layering, and processing vis-à-vis a virtual 3D environment and a bespoke granular synthesis engine called mugranular. A Nintendo Switch Joy-Con is used for basic interfacing with a Max/MSP patch. Mubones are like trombones; they are a type of instrument that anyone can, in principle, make and play. There is not a single capital-M "Mubone". Garcia is the result of the pairing with choreographer Bettina Szabo. Our collaboration approach focused on centering choreography, movement, and gesture in an attempt to foreground these elements in the work. We mapped out the choreography before drafting the sound score; this approach contributed to a convincing performance that showcases the capacity for the mubone to achieve a symbiotic relationship between the movement, sound, and electronics. The piece is autobiographical and explores themes around immigration, otherness, and social acceptance. These are challenges that we shared as first generation immigrants to Canada. The structure of the piece follows a chronological timeline beginning with naive childhood curiosity and continuing with an adulthood consumed by memory reactivation, and finally ending with the fragility and nostalgia in old age.},
 address = {Auckland, New Zealand},
 articleno = {16},
 author = {Kalun Leung},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.21428/92fbeb44.e048e4b7},
 editor = {Raul Masu},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {jun},
 title = {Garcia (2021) for Mubone},
 track = {Music},
 url = {https://doi.org/10.21428/92fbeb44.e048e4b7},
 year = {2022}
}