Ghost in the Machine probes the relationship between contemporary classical music and new technology, as expressed by centuries-old instruments playing in concert with machines.

Ghost in the Machine, created for the renowned Calder Quartet, is a collaboration between composer Matt McBane and video artist Lucy H G. The result is a twenty-five minute multimedia work for amplified and processed string quartet and live processed video. The piece formally consists of three movements, performed live by the Calder Quartet, McBane’s on-stage processing of live audio, and Lucy H G’s off-stage live processing of video.

In Ghost in the Machine, the acoustic and electric sounds are in constant dialogue: live sound interacts with a distorted version of itself; a sample taken during the performance provides a rhythmic backdrop for live playing; rich textures build up through the live overdubbing of several layers of sound. As the quartet’s playing reverberates, rewinds and repeats its self, live and reiterated sounds mingle in new combinations of the acoustic and electronic.

The dual nature of the piece, derived from the quartet’s real-time playing merged with the real-time application of recorded live segments, is echoed by a video backdrop that combines composite still and video imagery with live video footage. Audience and quartet drift in and out of video sequences, while dreamlike imagery suggests an association between violin strings and power lines, listening and drowning, nature’s relentless cycle and the quartet’s powerful playing.