There is an interesting consequence of my poor programming that seems to now be making a positive contribution to the work.

There are various areas in the software where the processing is lagging. There is now a variation in when events and transitions occur. In particular, the sine wave arrays seem to ramp up and down in the middle of bars rather than on the start of a bar where the data feed moves to the next selection. This causes a lot of nice sounding movement, and helps soften the hard and fast tempo that whilst unavoidable does not serve the content well.

This is one positive aspect to what is otherwise an anxious period, as I have somewhat lost my way in the virtual tangle of cables and objects and plug ins from which the software ‘engine’ is constructed.

It is making sound, and the sound is, for the most part appealing, and seems to represent the subject matter effectively enough. But I am losing track of just how it is doing it.

The project has taken weeks, months really to bring to this point. This ongoing, unrelenting engagement means that my skill in programming and handling the authoring platform has improved significantly. Now that I am entering into a period of refinement and revision I come face to face with just how bad some of the earlier coding is. some of it is so opaque that I still cannot comprehend how it is managing to do what it is doing.

But with so much work requiring attention in the run up to a performance I can’t afford to take the time out to reprogram the weaker code. This seems to have been the central dilemma of much of my life - whether to stop and consolidate, organise, improve - or to press on and out further into the wilderness on a wing and a prayer that the whole edifice isn’t crumbling in my wake. Crumbling with the sound of a glacier calving!