Theses & Publications

Gesture has always been difficult to reconcile with electronic music, as we have 20 years of NIME conference proceedings trying to tackle the question. We design incredibly complex systems capable of synthesizing any sound we can conceptualize, yet we have to reduce that complexity to an interface we can actually perform with. Dobrian and Koppelman allude to this problem as a distinction between control and expression, ‘control’ being the exposed state of the system that we can endlessly tweak and design sound with, and ‘expression’ being a mapping across those controls to an interface we can use live in a performance setting.1 The sea of VST plugins and max patches and eurorack modules are largely concerned with crafting systems and controls. It’s uncommon for them to be concerned with expression

Live looping constrains musical dynamics. The same pattern cycles indefinitely, while a performance demands response and variation. CHULOOPA is a real-time drum looper that resolves this tension directly. The performer beatboxes patterns, and the system varies them in response to the live musical energy. A dBFS-mapped RMS measure, “spice”, drives selection from a pre-generated bank of five variations. These variants are generated at different temperatures in parallel by a grid-based decoder-only transformer and then sorted by deviation score to maintain a predictable creativity spectrum for the performer. At each loop boundary, the variant matching the current spice level is selected without interrupting playback. CHULOOPA demonstrates that the loop’s inherent repetition need not be a creative constraint. With audio-responsive AI variation, a loop becomes dynamically expressive without displacing the performer’s musical intent.

This thesis project documents my recent work in the research and development of an arsenal of creative audio tools, covering VST and max for live plugins, physical MIDI interfaces, and microphones. The project will discuss both the technical specifications of each device and the conceptual basis of developing an artistic practice that is engaged with the process of building its own tools.

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted for the degree of Bachelors of Fine Arts in Music Technology

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Fine Arts

In Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression 2024 Utrecht, Netherlands

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Fine Arts

In Proceedings of the International Conference on New Instruments for Musical Expression, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 2015.

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Fine Arts

In Proceedings of the International Conference on New Instruments for Musical Expression, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 2015.

In Proceedings of the International Conference on New Instruments for Musical Expression, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 2015.

In Proceedings of the International Conference on New Instruments for Musical Expression, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 2015.

In Proceedings of the International Conference on New Instruments for Musical Expression, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 2015.

In Proceedings of the International Conference on New Instruments for Musical Expression, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 2015.

In Proceedings of the International Conference on New Instruments for Musical Expression, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 2015.

In Proceedings of the International Conference on New Instruments for Musical Expression, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 2015.

In Proceedings of the International Conference on New Instruments for Musical Expression, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 2015.

In Proceedings of the International Conference on New Instruments for Musical Expression, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 2015.

In Proceedings of the International Conference on New Instruments for Musical Expression, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 2015.