lean

ongoing · in development · sine-tone score follower for live electronics, Max/MSP

Lean (Irish for ‘follow’, pronounced roughly ‘lyan’) is a score follower for live electronics. Gliding sine tones are stepped through a cued score in Max as the musicians play, so they bend, swell and fade with the performers. The idea began in (W)Edge for piano trio and electronics and has been carried through Idir chorp agus anam, Scaradh anama le corp, I mBéal na Toinne and Clapsholas na Maidine.

In Scaradh anama le corp (2024), a foot pedal steps the electronics through the piece a bar at a time. At each step the four sine tones glide to a new chord, each at its own speed, with their own envelope and amplitude modulation. In 2026 the system was rebuilt as a lighter stereo version, as a step towards a general tool for new works.