Simplify
At the beginning, I always pictured the work with a set of Tic-Tac Speakers, as in Electric Unconscious (see Electric Unconscious Making of). For me they represented the classic choir in any good opera. I experimented for a long time with them, trying to integrate them differently. At one point, I wanted to create a sacred circle in the middle of the stage where they would consecrate the first union in Act I.
However, the piece kept growing in many directions. At some point, the need to simplify became urgent. We were a small team. Simplification was not only about resources but also about avoiding distractions from the main purpose—asking whether something could be expressed with what was already there, without repetition.
In the end, the choir of speakers was represented by the PA system and the speakers already present on stage.
Wiring diagram
The wiring diagram for Loudspeaker Baptism was less complex than in earlier stages. The initial plan included a stovetop, modular synth, hanging microphone, Tic-Tac speakers, and a hydrophone. These were all cut in favor of using existing elements—technological or human resources.
The most complex part of the diagram to figure out was the Digidion. At first, I thought the sound source would be a third computer, played directly as shown in an early plan. But this made the instrument heavy and unreliable. I was also considering how to synchronize sound and video in Act III, where that computer would project Matti’s video feed.
Although this setup introduced some latency, it was efficient and simple enough to work.
Building an Accordion of the Dystopic Future
After the first version in St. John’s, I had the idea of building a digital accordion. The act before us featured a digital accordion (essentially a fancy MIDI controller) that produced orchestral sounds. It struck us as absurd: an instrument rooted in popular tradition transformed into a master controller. There was something uncanny about it.
With the traditional accordion, I did not feel musically constrained but dramaturgically limited. The accordion itself needed to transform, to be affected by the technological process. I imagined the accordion as a reflection of the Genelec loudspeaker’s persona. It became the double of the Genelec—angelic in Acts I and II, monstrous in Act III, a piece of garbage that nonetheless propelled sound waves with undeniable power.
Using what I had—leftover fridge parts from Electric Unconscious, cardboard and recycled materials, my old computer keyboard, and a small microcontroller—I built a simple way to play the digital accordion. The keyboard sent MIDI notes, while a potentiometer controlled values as the accordion opened and closed.
First version of Loudspeaker Baptism performed in July 2023 in ONSOUND Squeezefest, St-John's Nl, (CA)
List of All the things needed to perform the show
Props
SukuLaku
Polaroid pictures
Trash (soft trash, cardboard and plastic)
Speaker cable for Sarah Chewing
sparkles
Plastic bag
Big Plastic roll
Genelec poster.
Pulleys +rope + carabiner and rotation thing
Sport bandana
basebal bat
1 exacto knife
White Genelec + Lights
Golden scissors
Fiskars Scissor
Digidion
Long xlr digidion 15 metres
4 ports usb over Cat 5+ +power
Cut fridge racks +cardboard box +cardboard
broken Keyboard
good keyboard
straps.
small genelec 8010
duct tape
Cables
Arduino +pot. +microusb->usb +cardboad
cable sock.
ethernet cable for digidion
Technical
Canadian plugs/Cable (3 without ground/2 with)
long power for Genelec
Genelec 8020D+ box
long xlr for genelec
Finnish Plugs
2 adat cable
Usb Hub
Durec Sd Card
Computer
Sound card
8 input and out put extension ADAT+rackmounts
long usb cable in case
Midi controler+usbcable
Small Camera
midi pedal
jackF to xlrM
jackM to Xlr F
4 usb to ethernet adapter
eur to Cad AC adapter
jack to xlr x5 +jack to xlr digidion
SET
Box 1 (50 x 60 x 120 cm)
Box 2 (47x50x70) cm)
Half-palette
1 Support for Genelec in the box (60-70cm)
Smal carboard boxes
Puppet
Puppet's frame
Extra cardboab
Head
metal pieces. 3?
Bubble wrap/plastic dress
Puppet's eyes
puppet eyes power supply EUR
puppet eyes power supply CAD
Puppet Crown
Tongue
Costume
Sarah Mask and Gloves
Sarah Hoodie
Strap around chest
Feathered Wings
Charles Mask and Gloves
Charles Hoodie
4 Masks
Black rain coat
Contact lenses
Black gloves
Matti plad shirt
Matti Suit
Ipad
Matti Makeup
Sarah Dress copper
Sarah Black socks and pants
Make-Up + tape for wirless, small pocket
Other stuff/tools
Screwdriver flat for electronics
electrical tape
drill
more big screwss
Computer #2 qlab/lights
Computer #3 Surtitles
1 long ethernet
1 ethernet shorter
cable cutter
Gaff tape black
Puppet
For a long time, I searched for a puppeteer. Finding the right collaborator (and budget) proved difficult, so I ended up designing it mostly myself.
There is a distinct creative energy in building these raw instruments, like the Digidion. Whether assembling the excarnated guitar at the end of Le Refuge des Cordes, creating the Digidion and Puppet for Loudspeaker Baptism, or constructing the electronic setup for Electric Unconscious, I find deep satisfaction in making simple instruments. The rushed, rough energy of their creation seeps into their build quality, giving them a raw, visceral character. Literally cracking them open, reaching inside, and physically engaging with the materials.
My poor craftsmanship adding its own touch of rawness to the Digidion and the Puppet.
Plastic
The idea of plastic came to me in a vivid dream: I envisioned a performance in which someone passed through a long corridor of plastic, struggling and encountering electronic music devices along the way.
Passing through plastic evoked for me a symbolic birth canal.
After the initial 20-minute version of the work in 2023, I struggled to find my role in the piece. I thought this would be it: my role would be to move through the plastic corridor. Yet it did not work: it was too technically demanding and distracted from the work with the musicians. Still, I held on to the idea of plastic. It took us a while to figure out how to use it.
