Chris Visi and Randall Harris performed their graduate lecture recital on Thursday, March 17 at the Coulter Recital Hall.
The recital consisted of many different musical instruments, an overview about each instrument, the compositional process and the equipment used. While both students thrive with musical abilities, each student presented differently.
Randall Harris, presented a jazz composition that consisted of three different instruments. Harris on the drum set, Owen Tharp on bass and Ryan Hudson on the keyboard. His next performance was a soundscape piece; a compilation of natural sounds to make music and was presented in 5.1 surround sound. The piece was presented along with a video created by graphic design major, Joseph Hadar.
Harris kept the crowd alive as he incorporated music from Messian’s “Quartet for the End of Time” along with his own percussion loop that was controlled by Wii controllers. The Wii controllers were inserted into a foam ball that was thrown around the crowd. The more the ball moved, the more music that came through the speakers. Once the ball was still, the music would stop. This presentation kept the audience active and involved in the show.
Chris Visi did nothing short of Harris when he presented his recomposition of a scene from “Silent Hill”. Visi used over 40 sounds created from Logic Pro 8 and 9 software and mixed in with 5.1 surround sound for dramatized ambience. He had video interaction mixed with his musical composition. Visi also did live, on the spot DJ with sample music from Florence and Machine’s “Dog Days Are Over”.
Visi and Harris worked together on the last piece, “Second Chances”. Randall used an Ambleton Live launchpad. Visi incorporated live visuals with Grand VJ Software. After both elements were combined, the piece was complete.
This graduate performance displayed how electronic music has changed from the early 1900s, giving out a modern theme from the instruments used and video that complimented the music.
Music has come a long way from just a guitar and vocals. Visi and Randall used MIDI Controlers such as the Ableton Live Lauchpad, LIVID OHM64, Handsonic electronic hand percussion pad, Wii controllers and the familiar drum set and electric bass.
“It’s hard to say where music is going, but with new musical software every year, the possibility of newly created music can certainly be viewed as endless” Visi said.
Both Visi and Harris have big plans for the future. Visi plans on either moving to Manteo, NC in hopes to work for The Roanoke Island Festival Park running live sound for indoor and outdoor shows or getting into the music industry in Atlanta, Georgia. Harris plans to produce and perform music either in Asheville or Charleston.
“People love to make music, and people love to hear music, this kind of technology does make it more accessible to the untrained musician and at the same time give the serious musician another road to progress his or her art.” Randall said.
