Marotta Hour #3

Outside the Urban Arts Space

We had the third installment in the Marotta Hour series last evening at the OSU Urban Arts Space. At this point I'm actually starting to feel confident that we will continue to attract an audience. Considering the cold, wet weather and the amazing amount of construction going on in downtown Columbus, this is no small accomplishment.

Our audience

Last night, we had Mike Shiflet, who is the first performer who wanted the whole hour to his- or herself. Mike has gotten so good at his art and this performance really showed it. Last week, Mike and I had an interesting conversation about how he had now pretty much completely distanced himself from note- or rhythm-based music and was now thinking in terms of sound and texture. Mike did an hour-long laptop set using samples of naturally-generated sounds such as crumpling paper, rolling marbles, and a power generator to create a sonic landscape as complex and intricate as one derived solely from computers or electronic oscillators.

Mike Shiflet

This is also the first concert were the audience had some questions afterwards. One of the best thing about a concert of experimental or improvised music is that the boundary between performer and audience breaks down. The performer often finds him or herself in the role of audience to the sounds being created. The audience, in turn, is asked to do a lot of work in listening and framing the sounds, so it only makes sense that they would feel more comfortable to ask about the music just created.