A few months ago, Tobias Fandel, the organizer of the Overdrive Festival, asked if I would be interested in presenting my work with lighting. Although I already had a piece involving lighting and impulse response, I wanted to create something new. Around the same time, I had been discussing the idea of writing a piece for contrabass flute with Kelley Barnett—long-time collaborator and member of ensemble mise-en. I had started that piece but hadn’t finished it as planned. I realized this festival invitation was the perfect opportunity to bring the two projects together and create a composition for contrabass flute and lighting.

Initially, I considered developing the custom lighting system I had created for impulse response. But due to time constraints, I decided instead to work with commercially available DMX-capable lighting equipment. I bought an inexpensive Enttec-compatible open-source DMX interface which, unfortunately, came without any useful software. Fortunately, because the device uses an FTDI USB chip, it was relatively easy to build my own control software. There were challenges, of course, but we managed to complete the project.

Ultimately, the piece has become an ongoing work-in-progress, as both the electronics and the lighting system have plenty of room for further refinement. We’re looking forward to continuing its development in the coming year.

Premiere:
The OVERDRIVE FESTIVAL for Experimental Electronic Music and Multimedia Art
https://overdrive.nyc/overdrive4

December 2nd, 2025
Concert: Acousmonium II
with Moon Ha & Kelley Barnett (Flute), Patrick K.-H., Itzá García, and XBUCKET (Sam Tarakajian, Alex Van Gils)
Audio support by Daniel Neumann (New Ear ::) and JUPITER SOUND
Elebash Recital Hall, The Graduate Center
365 5th Ave, New York, NY
7:30 PM