This mix is dedicated to laptop performers, where a large part of the visual substance of performance happens onscreen instead of onstage. You may use any tools you like for this mix, but be sure to feature what’s going on on your screen during the performance!

This could be as straightforward as focusing a video camera on your screen—this would save CPU power and allow you to capture some physical movement outside your screen as well, but you would get higher quality results using screen capture software like the following:

• Camtasia (Mac OS X, Windows)
• Quicktime (Mac OS X, Windows)

While this mix focuses on the content of your screen, you may want to think of ways you can reflect physical movements offscreen as well, like:

• Setting up a camera to catch your physical movements as well as your screen
• Setting up visual feedback for your physical controls: onscreen knobs and faders
• Using your built-in camera to show your image on part of the screen (it would take up CPU power but could be done with a photography or videochat application)
• Recording yourself and your screen separately and syncing and compositing them after recording (saves CPU and may look the nicest, but it takes the most gear and post-processing time). In the initial track for this mix, I made a Max patch to calculate frame differencing, smear the image over time a bit, and superimpose it on top of my sampler’s screen capture.

This mix was created for electronic musicians using live sampling techniques: no prerecorded sounds. Just take what you hear, transform it, and use that as your “voice” in the performance. Because of this principle, the first track was also recorded without using pre-recorded sounds. Instead, it uses acoustic feedback (Larsen tones) and electronic intervention by the performance system (e.g., distortion, ground hum, and an intermittent connection).

If you want to contribute to this mix, you’ll need to grab the sound you hear and transform it. No other sound sources!

This could be as simple and lo-fi as holding a microphone up to a speaker or using a cable to connect your line out to your line in. For cleaner results, consider using software like the following:

• Jack (Linux, Mac OS X, Windows)
• ReWire protocol (Mac OS X, Windows)
• Soundflower (Mac OS X)
• VB Audio Cable (Windows)
• Virtual Audio Cable (Windows)