This is a “patch” or script written in Max/MSP, a visual coding language that is great for bridging audio inside and outside the computer.

The goal of this patch was to capture some of the thousands of miniature events that take place while using a computer during a typical workday– key presses, mouse downs, microphone audio above a threshold (something like a creaky chair, or interrupting roommate). Those events are re-contextualized into an audio piece, in this case a remix of Terry Riley’s 1968 minimalist piece “In C.“

The resulting composition will react to the intensity of user input. Infinitely scrolling a social media stream, for example, will result in a lower energy audio print than typing a paper or editing code.