REALITY ORP Performance at Weird Music Night, ChaNorth

July 3, 2026

This past Saturday, Andrei and I performed a set as REALITY ORP for another Weird Music Night at ChaNorth, an artist residency space in Pine Plains, NY. This is a yearly event for Upstate Arts Weekend, and it was our second time participating. This year's event was a series of eclectic sets, including one by our friend Chants Voyage, whose music has been described as "cryptic techno," and another by Phantasma Traumata, seen in the image gallery below in their unique costumes. There was also a clown who, among other sketches, performed an industrial techno song on colorful plastic toy instruments.

Continuing my recent explorations in live improvised sound, I sampled and looped an FM radio, kalimba, and vocals, and manipulated them with granular processing. Andrei performed live video using footage they recorded of liquids, processed with feedback loops and digital transformations using their self-created Gravity Waaaves device. See below for a diagram of my audio setup.

We made a recording of the set, but I neglected to record my audio directly, so the sound is from the camera's mic. Contrary to my expectations, I actually like this version more, as it includes the environmental sound and atmosphere that made the event so enjoyable. Beneath the sound from the PA, you can hear the sounds of night in the forest, children giggling, and people sitting in the grass, murmuring to each other. In the video image, moths flutter around the lamp on my audio table. This is the sort of delightful, intimate event which seems to bring out the best in live performers.