WILLFUL DEVICES
Willful Devices is a collaboration between composer/computer musician Scott Miller and performer/improviser Pat O’Keefe. Their musical relationship began in 2003 when Scott was commissioned by the new music ensemble Zeitgeist (of which Pat is artistic co-director) to create an evening-length theatrical work for musicians, poet, video, and interactive computer processing. One of the pieces developed for that program was Mirror Inside, for solo bass clarinet with digital processing. In the midst of that collaboration their personal and artistic sensibilities clicked, and they began the journey that would lead to what is today Willful Devices.
Willful Devices is a collaborative endeavor in the truest sense of the word, from beginning to end. Much of the development of their music takes place during that unique time we all know as play. The results are vital, playful, sincere, and a product of the connection between Scott and Pat and their sounds. That is the root of all their work.
The name Willful Devices refers to the fact that both musicians are, in the simplest terms, manipulating devices, be it a clarinet or a computer, in order to generate sonic material. As anyone who works with computers or musical instruments knows, sometimes, despite your best efforts, these devices are not always fully under your control, and seem to have a mind of their own. Scott and Pat accept this fact, and even celebrate it, because within this unpredictability lies the potential for unimagined sonic discoveries. Hence, Willful Devices.
Liner Notes for the Willful Devices CD