Victor Zheng

Sometimes you create something horrifying in SuperCollider that you just can’t resist making use of.

I wrote //run with caution under invitation from CHIMEFest at the University of Chicago. At the time, I was kind of blanking on effective compositional ideas, so I just messed around on SuperCollider only to accidentally cause a catastrophic glitch blasting so hard from my headphones that I’m surprised I didn’t get permanent tinnitus right then and there.

I added a comment into the code reading “run with caution” at the offending line for my future reference, giving the piece its title. After a back-and-forth with my advisor in which I was told in no uncertain terms NOT to run the code as is at CHIMEFest, I had to come up with a workaround to use the sound in a safe manner. I recorded the sound into a buffer so I could keep it at a safe level and prevent any further unpredictable glitches, and use the light sensors as an instrument to manipulate that sound.

Performances:

• 13 July 2024 – Seoul, South Korea performed by self at ICMC 2024
• 2 March 2024 – Romeoville, IL performed by self at EMM 2024
• 19 June 2023 – New York City, NY performed by self at NYCEMF 2023
• 18 March 2023 – Warrensburg, MO performed by self at MOXSonic Festival 2023
• 2 December 2022 – Champaign, IL performed by self
• 17 June 2022 – Chicago, IL performed by self at CHIMEFest 2022