ABOUT THE COLLABORATION

I am fascinated by sound, and always have been. My main instruments are the clarinet and bass clarinet, and I have spent a considerable amount of time developing my skills with extended techniques – those sounds that go beyond the traditional ways of playing the instrument. These include multiphonics (producing multiple notes at the same time), vocal sounds combined with playing, and various percussive effects. I am interested in how these sounds might be extended further, beyond the realm of the purely acoustic and into electronic realms, and in Scott Miller I have found the perfect collaborating partner. His skill with interactive computer systems is remarkable, and his ear for sonic detail is finely-tuned. As creative musicians we share a love of sound and sonic environments as crucial elements in musical works, elements that go beyond the traditional boundaries of melody, harmony, and rhythm. Our work together has allowed each of us to develop and grow, and has resulted in works that would not have been possible had we been working separately. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, through our work together we have developed a deep and lasting friendship that no doubt forms (and informs) a most solid foundation for our musical creations.

Pat O’Keefe, performer/improviser

Creative collaborations have been a defining element of my work for close to two decades, and my collaboration with Pat O'Keefe has been one of the most rewarding. I can trace many of the features of my current compositions to my work with him. Approaching the creative act from a collaborative perspective informs both the methodology of my work and the conceptualization of it. New work often begins with extended rehearsals of shared exploration of sonic possibilities, in which my creative partners and I embrace discovery as a musical process. The result is compositions which are highly idiosyncratic, draw on the strengths and interests of my collaborative partners, and frequently include improvisational elements. Conceptually, many of my works have extended the idea of collaboration to the relationship between the performers and the space in which they perform, in what I call a performance environment. Performance environments are not compositions in the traditional sense of the word, but rather the construction in sound of interactive, electroacoustic environments which encourage a particular performance, including various kinds of social interaction between performer, audience, the performance space, and other media. Changes in the sound of the performance space directly influence the production of computer sound, creating a unique and dynamic sonic-ecology that the musician is then free to explore. Ultimately, it all comes down to the sheer joy of a shared creative enterprise and aesthetic experience.

Scott Miller, composer/computer musician