Lata
Rotations Colours Sounds
Simon Fisher Turner
Mute Records

Lata is an interactive music performance instrument which formed the third part of Simon Fisher Turners album Lana Lara Lata, released on Mute records. It allows the performer to manipulate musical extracts from the album and create their own versions of the album.

Music is created by selecting a coloured segment from the middle wheel and placing it in an empty cell on any of the outer wheels. Each wheel has various controls: speed, direction, volume and random playback. Sequences can be saved. This device was designed to allow music to have no beginning, middle or end, – infinite music.

One day I got a call from Simon Fisher Turner. He had been given my name by Daniel Miller from Mute. Simon was releasing a new album on Mute records and Daniel had told Simon it would be good if we collaborated together on his new record.

We had a chat on the phone and Simon sent me some tracks from the album for reference. The music had this lovely bitty, fragmented feel to it - and was built out of lots of little parts.

I talked to Simon about designing a soundtoy which would be released with his album. I was interested in a toy that would allow new pieces of music to be made from the sounds Simon used for his album. I was also interested in making a soundtoy that would allow music to be made which had no start or end and would just be continuous.

Once the soundtoy was made, Simon and myself collaborated live. Simon on Piano and me playing the soundtoy, projected in the performance.

OLHARES DE OUTONO
Digital Arts Festival
Porto, Portugal
November, 2010, 11th edition