The first Tuesday of the year. Electroacoustic real time live improvisation with game controllers, controlled by Max/Msp and Ableton Live by User Friendly. Also on the bill is a brand new duo. Live coder Missy Malouff and laptop performer Hamish Robb.
User Friendly is a Baltimore-based electronic music producer and composer specializing in experimental sound design and real-time performance systems. He creates educational and audiovisual content for the world wide web, as well as custom systems for other performers using Max/MSP and Ableton Live with game controller interfaces. Taking inspiration from years of working with hardware systems such as eurorack and Elektron machines, his “in-the-box” systems merge improvisation with multi-dimensional control, and this will mark his first live performance.
Hamish Robb is a Baltimore-based programmer, improviser, and composer of experimental and electronic music. They create sounds that explore contradictions: synthetic/organic, rigid/liquid, sprawling/confined. Using VCV Rack, they weave together glitchy and chaotic sound structures. They hold a degree in Computer Science and Musical Studies from Oberlin College and studied in the Computer Music program at the Peabody Institute under Sam Pluta, graduating with an M.M. in 2025. They have been involved in the Baltimore free improvisation scene and self-produce music across a wide range of styles, from ambient soundscapes to multi-channel sonic blasts. Outside of their electronic work, they are a semi-reformed guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, amateur graphic designer, and filmmaker.
