Taut is a percussive representation of the daily cycle of information surrounding COVID-19 in March 2020. Messages from news apps, social media and communities in different time zones are often out of sync or slightly contradictory, and the barrage of information grows exponentially, threatening to overwhelm until you turn your device off. Taut was composed during a self-isolation period, using objects available in our homes as instrumentation: kitchen bowls.
Podcast
Listen to an interview between Cat Hope and Louise Devenish about the piece, and life for Australian musicians during COVID 19.
Dr Louise Devenish is a contemporary percussionist whose creative practice blends performance, collaboration and artistic research. As a soloist and with ensembles Decibel, The Sound Collectors Lab and Intercurrent, she develops new works exploring performance, notation and collaborative creativity, performing around Australasia, Europe, North America and UK. She has collaborated on recordings with her ensembles and others, released on Hat Hut, Listen/Hear, Immediata, Innova, Tall Poppies and room40, including solo album music for percussion and electronics. Louise is Senior Research Fellow and Percussion Coordinator at Monash University, where she is undertaking an Australian Research Council Fellowship (DECRA) in artistic research.