Wind Farm (2009)

laptop ensemble

Commissioned by the Electric Monster Laptop Ensemble, Montana State University, dir. Hsiao-Lan Wang

Download the Max patches.

Performance by the Arazzi Laptop Ensemble in the Palazzo Pisani, Venice, Italy. The ensemble members are Nicola Buso, Ongakuaw, Luca Richelli, Julian Scordato, Giovanni Sparano, Alvise Vidolin, Paolo Zavagna, and Stefano Alessandretti.

 Listen to a dress rehearsal of Wind Farm by the Arazzi Laptop Ensemble, before the concert shown in the video above.

Excerpt from a performance by the Arazzi Laptop Ensemble at the Laboratorio Arazzi conference, held at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, 20 April 2011 (video by Alberta Ziche).

Excerpt from the performance by the CEnsR Ensemble at the Indianapolis Intermedia Festival.

Wind Farm is a piece for laptop ensemble that touches metaphorically on the promise and problems of wind energy. Wind turbines could be an important source of renewable energy, but the turbines kill birds, disrupt habitats, confuse airplane and weather radar, and spoil natural views. How should we live with them?

The laptops produce two different types of sound: spinning, pitched clicks and synthetic wind noises. A conductor laptop guides the individual players over a wireless network, sending them pitches to play, performance instructions, and sound characteristics.

For more information, see my article about the piece: Wind Farm, a Composition for Laptop Ensemble, published in the Proceedings of the Symposium on Laptop Ensembles & Orchestras, Louisiana State University, 2012.

Performances:

• GTLork (Georgia Tech Laptop Orchestra), Goat Farm Arts Center, Atlanta, Georgia, 4/17/2014
• Toneburst Laptop Ensemble, SEAMUS National Conference, Wesleyan University, 3/27/2014
• The Laptop Orchestra of Louisiana (LOLs), Symposium on Laptop Ensembles & Orchestras (SLEO), Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 4/16/2012
• Arazzi Laptop Ensemble, 8th Sound and Music Computing Conference, Conservatory “Benedetto Marcello,” Sala concerti di Palazzo Pisani, Venice, Italy, 7/9/2011
• Arazzi Laptop Ensemble, Laboratorioarazzi 2011, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, Italy, 4/20/2011
• Electric Monster Laptop Ensemble, D-22, Beijing, China, 5/18/2010
• CEnsR Ensemble, Indianapolis Intermedia Festival of Telematic Arts, 4/25/2010
• Electric Monster Laptop Ensemble, Montana State University, 12/4/2009

The Max patches will work in the no-cost Max Runtime. Download it from this page. This installs things only inside of “/Applications/Max6 Runtime/”.

Here are screenshots of the three patches used. (Click to enlarge.)