ICA New Music Weekend 2021: Willful Devices

Willful Devices

Pat O’Keefe, clarinets and Scott L. Miller, electronics

 

Pat O’Keefe and Scott Miller have been collaborating as the duo Willful Devices for over 15 years, creating numerous works for clarinet/bass clarinet and interactive electronics. In this masterclass we will talk about the nature of our collaboration, how we were able to overcome the covid-enforced separation and continue to be creative, and also feature a few of the pieces we created over the years. 

Our approach has always been very sound-oriented, with each of us not only making our own sonic contributions, but also searching to discover how our individual behaviors will influence and shape the others’ sonic environment as well. As the person holding the clarinet, I view our instrument not only in its traditional melodic context but also more broadly as a resonating tube capable of a huge variety of complex sounds. Our name, Willful Devices, reflects the fact that each of us is manipulating a device, be it a clarinet or a computer, and sometimes these devices are not completely in our control, yet that ambiguity is an integral part of our playful interaction. 

As soon as the pandemic began in 2020 Scott and I began experimenting with ways to continue our collaboration purely electronically, with each of us making sound from our respective homes, while being connected to each other in real-time over the internet, which allowed our working process to continue. We tried many different approaches before eventually settling on Netty McNetface, which is low-latency audio networking software created by Miller Puckette specially to allow musicians in remote locations to rehearse together. We will be in two different remote locations and will demonstrate a bit of Netty McNetface as part of our presentation.

When: 10/17/2021 | 3:45 pm

Featuring: Pat O'Keefe, clarinets; Scott L. Miller, electronics

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