GRACE NOTES by Nicholas O'Brien
The score for this performance used appropriated + cut up samples from traditional Irish folk music and recording samples of my singing mixed live to create a rich texture of sound. After arranging the loops of the recordings and getting these in a kind of synchronicity, I then began to sing along with the recorded audio through a couple of different analog manipulating devices (pedals).
The performance and process of editing and appropriating from this folk music was an attempt to shorten some distance I feel with my Irish heritage. Three years ago I had taken some time to read a good amount of contemporary and canonized Irish literature and found that my own work unconsciously addressed very similar themes. I felt as though I should deliberately address some of these similarities, and explore how to connect my practice directly with some folk traditions in Irish culture. By choosing to go through these mediated and technological devices, I intended to make a gesture that spoke to the comfort and security I find within and around the web and network societies.
I really enjoyed this piece, Nick. Although I think that the piece would have more contextual impact if I would have known the specifics of the piece before it began, I still was able to get lost in the sound and have a private adventure inside of my own being. I really hope that you keep working with this idea of exploring your heritage and culture.
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