The Mutant Data Orchestra is John and Mark Bain.
The Mutant Data Orchestra rewires the products of our digital society to
expose the hidden agents within. Through live circuit modification of
digital answering machines, cheap digital toys and sound instruments the
performers manipulate the data pathways and exert influence on their
sound production without the use of a conventional software interface.
This
inherent coupling of the performers to the internal chance agents
produced by the rewired circuitry provides a real time balance, where
the machine surprises the performer and the performer surprises the
machine. The result is an improvisation based on a series of accidents
directed towards a compositional whole.
Within these electronic
machines, modifications are rationalized in relation to their aural
results. Each device has a data output so that they can infect each
other and influence their respective sound making capabilities. These
sonic generators produce shards of noise with auto-improvised stabs of
high pitched bell and cello tones. At times one can hear the
intermeshing of data as a liquid waterfall of sonic information. The
goal is to perceive data as living flowing entity where sound is used as
the trace of exposure.