Volume 23 Issue 4 - December 2017 / January 2018

Many of her works also use video, but not as accompaniment to
the music – rather, the video becomes an instrument itself that the
performer engages with in a synced-up dialogue. Even the glitches
themselves become instruments.
On the stage, Lizée uses both malfunctioning technologies such
as reel to reel tape recorders and old synths, as well as “behaving
ones” – usually performed on by others. The glitching devices are
unpredictable, so she needs to perform with that in mind and often
she has no idea what will happen with them. It requires keeping an
open mind and working with whatever happens. Using such devices
gives new colours such as hums and hisses, and even when they don't
work properly, other things will be present. Despite the glitches, the
analogue machines will always offer her something to work with.
They won’t shut off or fail to function – unlike digital devices. “I have
never come across an analogue device that completely shuts down. It
may go crazy and be unpredictable in a concert, and sometimes there
will be a malfunctioning cable, but it will never shut down. It just
keeps going.”
“I have never come across an analogue
device that completely shuts down. It may
go crazy … but it just keeps going.”
CHRIS HUTCHESON
What enables Lizée to use these glitch features in the composing
process is the notation system she has devised. And she doesn’t
just approximate the sound, but rather employs great precision
to accurately translate what is occurring within the glitch. Using
changing time signatures for example, rather than adjusting
everything to regular 4/4 time, is one outcome of her approach.
Spending years developing her transcription process was essential to
developing her perspective on composing music.
And yes, she admits, it is labour intensive, but “ultimately it has
pushed me in many ways, and performers tell me repeatedly how
it has made them play differently. They all have their stories and it’s
extremely interesting to hear how their relationship to this element
has pushed them. It taps into different emotions and requires a
spot-on precision. The stops and starts, changing tempos, metres,
volume extremes, this all requires a player to completely commit to
delving into this world.”
Working with glitch brings up emotions in players that are of a
different order than usual. The glitch often creates a “forlorn and
thewholenote.com December 2017 / January 2018 | 9