take place within a studio environment with computer manipulation and digital effects processing. So the audio elements of a piece developed for the Bodycoder System are structurally defined with all the sounds and the processing elements ear-marked, but the final realisation is produced in real-time by the performer, who becomes the joint composer of the work. Whenever somebody says ‘sampler’ one immediately supposes that they are talking about the triggering of pre-composed samples on-and-off. Indeed this is what much of the early explorations into ‘interactivity’ comprised of. However, working with an Emu4x is like sitting down in a studio with an extremely powerful real-time digital processor. By using the information sent by the body sensors the dancer can affect such parameters as frequency and amplitude modulation – depths and rates, pitch – either quantised or totally variable, various forms of filter modulation, filter morphing, sample start time, volume, pan, envelope rates and so on.

Audio manipulation is achieved by controlling the sampler directly from the PC1600 on 14 midi channels. One finger switch is always dedicated to send a signal back to the PC1600 – to enable a patch change so that a multitude of patches can be recalled by the performer during a performance.

The visual information (stills and movies) are held in X<Pose>, again a so called visual sampling software package which ‘uniquely’ allows up to 7 controllers at any one time to effect a single visual, be it a pict or a movie. Again visual manipulation is achieved by controlling X<Pose> directly from the PC1600 on a dedicated midi channel.

Presets containing palettes of visual information can be selected by the performer in the same way that he/she selects audio patches, and like the audio material, the visuals may also be controlled and effected in real-time.

4.  Working with the Bodycoder System

By physically closing the gap between technology and dancer, by placing sensors on the body, a number of the problems arising from the stage placed sensors were resolved. On-the-body sensors instantly produced an intimate coexistent relationship between dancer and technology. Moreover, the sensors responded to the natural movements of the dancer, so in theory they did not change the physical abilities of the dancer. Because sensors can be placed anywhere on the body, the total expressive power of the system could interface with either a small range of movements such as the fingers and wrist of one hand, or can be arranged across the whole geometry of the body. Because the sensors are not fixed to particular locations on the body, the system does not promote a limited choreographic vocabulary, but rather proposes a number of choreographic challenges according to the specific piece being developed and the discreet placing of the sensors for that particular piece.

Artistically the system is also very open ended and can be used very simplistically or can be used as an instrument of great audio and visual complexity. Used very simplistically, the system is a versatile tool which translates and interprets the largest or smallest and most delicate of body movements into audio and visual landscapes, with impressive clarity. At it’s most complex the performer is able to navigate through multiple layers of audio and visual imagery, orchestrating and