Composed by Benjamin Burns, Performed by Pádraic Ó Brolcháin (extract of a longer performance)
Feedback Mixer is a single-player electroacoustic dance performance game piece, which is played by improvising to a randomised score. Taking the concept of the No-Input Mixing Board, and adding two external inputs, Feedback Mixer involves the live manipulation of three feedback loops. The first loop is internal to the mixer, running between channel 1 and the auxiliary output. The second and third loops are between a pair of lavalier microphones and a pair of loudspeakers which are arranged facing the player on either side. These acoustic feedback loops between microphone and loudspeaker can be used to subtly alter, or wildly drown out, the sound of the mixer’s internal feedback as it runs through the loudspeakers. The acoustic feedback loops between microphone and loudspeaker are also sent to the auxiliary output. In this way, all three feedback loops are in a state of interaction. Standing between the loudspeakers the player holds the lavalier microphones in their hands, and plays by twiddling dials and pushing buttons on the mixer, and moving the microphones closer to and further away from the loudspeakers, all the while dancing in response to the music. The score consists of 18 instructions, each framed in a different colour or design, which are played through in random order on each occasion. The player is asked to interpret these instructions intuitively while they play. After 3 minutes a game over sign appears on screen, and the player is instructed to end when they end.
Benjamin Burns 