Goa Variations Videos

Posted by Andrew D Meyer on May 20, 2020 in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Here are some videos I’ve made for each of the five variations on my latest album, Goa Variations. They are largely abstract and mostly textural, though there are a few focal points in some of them. I’m relatively new to creating original video, but I’m really interested in multimedia aspects of performance. This interest really began for me last year as I was preparing for a recital of works for saxophone and clarinet with fixed media, including video. In those performances I used a device called an ESP video synth, created by Critter and Guitari, which reacts in real-time to the sounds you are making based on preset and modifiable controls.

For these videos, I used a package of grainy VHS footage and a few simple animations. I tried, as I often do with sound, to not use the graphic objects the way they were intended. I used excessive zoom, cropping, repetition, and drastic color adjustment to take them out of context. In addition, I used very rudimentary video editing software because I believe that using rough tools often leads to more creativity and accidental “discoveries,” as opposed to the process that occurs when using very sophisticated tools that allow for unlimited options.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to working in this medium more in the future. I’m also looking forward to performing these pieces with these or other videos projected onto a very large screen. Goa Variations has always been intended as a work for live performance as much as recording and I think it’s a natural fit for multimedia.