Kaosphere Orchestra

over 32 musicians around NZ- usually performing as a 13 piece orchestra-
The Kaosphere Orchestra.
you are free to copy these methods- Please mention your sources:
Kaosphere Orchestra D.I.Y. Home page

•The Kaosphere Orchestra provides a live sound track to the film Alchemical Pilgrimage by Snake Beings.
•The musicians face the film screen provided with a cue sheet, which tells them when to play.
•Each musician may play several instruments/sound sources.
•There are two ways that the Kaosphere musician can work depending on the instrumentation, available personnel etc. Both methods may be operational simultaneously.
•The system is designed with spontaneity in mind and the aim to gather a group of musicians for performance who have not played or practiced together before.
•In its purest form the Kaosphere Musician reacts to the contents of the projected film in front of a live audience without having seen the film before. However in practice it is usual for one viewing and briefing session to occur before the actual performance.

•The visual cues from the film and the slide projection combined with each musician's cue sheet provide all the necessary structure for addition improvisation.

First Method: Visual cue system:

•Each musician is equipped with a physical instrument and a mental image, which is kept in the mind during the performance.
•When the musicians given image appears on the screen the sound is emitted.
•Being forever ready the Kaosphere Musician stops playing the sound when the image disappears.
•Partial or momentary disappearance of the associated image may mean a drop in volume, pitch or tone of the sound emission, a change of key may also be signaled by changes to the on screen image.

Second Method: Number cue system:

•To the side of the screen there is a projected number cue system.
•The numbers are controlled by the Kaos Orchestrator working with visual cues taken from the film.
•Each Kaosphere Musician has a 'musical score' which dictates silence, volume, mood, etc for each number cue.
•The number cue system is an attempt to introduce 'dynamic volume' into the sound track (i.e. not everyone playing full volume all the time.) so that all instruments electric or acoustic can be heard at different points in the film.


General Notes
When there is more than one image cue present the Kaosphere musician may find there are sounds from other musicians with which to interact, where that other sound is one of percussion or of a rhythmic nature, the musician joining the existing sound must initially give way to the prevalent tempo. At times where there is only one selected image present you may find that you are playing solo, interacting solely with the visual stimuli. It is not always necessary to feel obligated to fill the space or silence, more important than sound or space is the dynamic of volume and intensity of what has just passed or is about to pass, and the ability to translate that into the present moment in a decisive manner. The Kaosphere Orchestra can only function in a sustainable fashion if communication between musicians are rapid, fluid, decisive, respectful or meaningful. More important than musicianship is the ability and willfulness of Listening, Observing, Reacting and Initiating.
It is for these qualities that you have been selected to play in the orchestra. Timidness equals ineffectuality.
Once these group basics are fulfilled individual initiative can become a vehicle of truly chaotic expression. The Kaosphere Orchestra is an attempt to challenge the general public's view of chaos as being 'out of control' or 'of disordered mind' for in appearance it seems that the musicians are controlled by the machine-like numbering system, reducing creativity to a mechanical and industrial monster.
The Kaos-score does not however dictate the actual notes, tempo or mood of the music, which is up to the individual musician to decide upon.
This is the double-edged sword of freedom, which the Kaosphere Orchestra is attempting to communicate to the audience.

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The Kaosphere Orchestra. Each musician is equipt with a physical instrument and a mental image which is kept in the mind during the performance. When the image corrisponding to the instrument appears on the screen the sound is emitted. Being forever ready the Kaosphere Musician stops playing the sound when the image dissapears. Partial or momentary dissapearence of the associated image may mean a drop in volume, pitch or tone of the sound emission, a change of key may also be signaled by changes to the on screen image. When there is more than one image present the Kaosphere musician may find there are sounds from other musicians with which to interact, where that other sound is one of percussion or of a rhythmic nature, the musician joining the existing sound must initially give way to the prevailent tempo. At times where there is only one selected image present you may find that you are playing solo, interacting soley with the visual stimuli. It is not always necesary to feel obligated to fill the space or silence, more important than sound or space is the dynamic of volume and intensity of what has just passed or is about to pass, and the ability to translate that into the present moment in a decisive manner. The Kaosphere Orchestra can only function in a sustainable fashion if communication between musicians are rapid, fluid, decisive, respectful or meaningful. More important than musicianship is the ability and willfullness of Listening, Observing, Reacting and Initiating. Timidness equals ineffectuality. Once these group basics are fullfilled individual initiative can become a vehicle of truely chaotic expression. This is the double edged sword of freedom, which the Kaosphere Orchestra is attempting to communicate to the audience.