Composer’s Note

Bruxist’s Mesh is a 5-dimensional networked improvisation piece that I developed for the Peabody Laptop Ensemble in late 2023. In early 2024, I had the opportunity to perform it in The Cube at Virginia Tech with a select group of Peabody improvisers as part of a satellite concert sponsored by SEAMUS. 

The core of Bruxist’s Mesh is a patch using the modular synth emulator VCV Rack. It runs on a tangle of control and audio signals, which are familiar features in my other electronic works. Using a router and a Max/MSP-based routing and diffusion patch, I developed it into a piece where a group of performers is both fighting against and conforming to a collective gesture. I’ve realized lately that it’s most like a glitchy ouija board. 

Within the VCV sound-generating patch, there are 4 democratized controls and 8 global controls for a total of 12 networked sound manipulating parameters. The DJ commands the global controls for each of the performers, which allows for the conducting of the piece through opening and manipulating various feedback and modulation paths. Each performer is assigned one of the 4 democratized controls. Their performance parameters are the XY movements of their mice and their assigned slider. The XY controls allow for the performers to have individual expressions, whereas the democratized controls shift in unison between the patches. The audio is routed out to the DJ, who then diffuses and manipulates the sound throughout the performance space. 

The benefit of performing this in the Cube, aside from its 134.6 audio channels, is the physical size of the space. It is rare to be able to manipulate the azimuth of sounds so transparently in a space. The spatial controls allowed me to push at the performers’ intuitions and abilities to distinguish their contributions. Instead of confusion, the result was a literal neural network for performance.

The bruxist will grind their teeth until the teeth cease to be.