Making music, to me, is religion

The awesome thing about making your own instruments, especially in code, is there’s just so many things you can do. There’s so many different combinations.

I make music that is visceral, physical interaction between computers and usually live performers. What I do is take microphones and put them on the musicians. So if I’m playing with a trumpet player, I’ll put a microphone on the trumpet or a piano, and I grab their sound, and the sound goes into the computer. I’ve developed a whole system of processing techniques where I take their sound and I manipulate it, and I mix it up and do crazy things with it, and then send it out to speakers. What I’m trying to do is create a reactive environment between me and my computer and an acoustic instrumentalist.

Making music, to me, is religion. I like sitting in a room and composing something. But what I really like is working with other humans and creating something—and through that interaction, developing really deep connections. I recently wrote a piece for [Santa Clara music Professor] Teresa McCollough. I have known her for 25 years. She was my first music teacher here. I wanted to write a piece that she would enjoy playing and that would become a communication between us and with the audience. It was a great experience.

Santa Clara is where I wrote my first piece of music. I took a mathematical process, and I turned it into a woodwind trio. It’s those kinds of connections that you can make here: studying something in class and then applying it to a piece of music. It can really help you find your purpose. I came here as a computer science major, but then I discovered this wild love for music.