Joo Won Park loves to create music that makes people laugh like a mad scientist. He performs live with toys, consumer electronics, vegetables, and other non–musical objects by digitally processing their sounds. He also makes pieces with field recordings, sine waves, and any other sources that he can record or synthesize. Joo Won draws inspirations from swamps, skyscrapers, his two sons, and other soundscapes surrounding him. He has studied at Berklee College of Music and the University of Florida and currently teaches Music Technology at the Wayne State University. Joo Won’s music and writings are available on ICMC DVD, Spectrum Press, MIT Press, PARMA, Visceral Media, MCSD, SEAMUS, and No Remixes labels.
Func Step Mode is a solo piece featuring two instruments I love: a no-input mixer and a drum machine. The output of the drum machine feeds into the no-input mixer affecting the rhythm and timbre of already-rich sound palette. The no-input (or rather, one-input) mixer thus becomes an analog audio processor with too many knobs to control, which makes every improvisation thrilling and daunting for me. The hardware and their setup for Func Step Mode are not a secret, but I think I play these instruments with a distinct voice.