This piece is built around the card game Coup. This game is based on the interactions between players. Everyone playing has 2 cards which they keep private. These cards determine the actions they can take during the game. However, any player can lie and take any action they choose if they think they can get away with it. Your traditional game of Coup will involve a lot of talking while declaring actions, blocking players, or challenging a claim to a card. In this piece, the conversation is brought from speech to the realm of pitch and timbre. Every action taken in this game triggers a change in the sounds produced by each player. At the same time, many actions will frequently warrant a response from the other players resulting in a dialogue of sounds. The choices of each player cause the piece to unfold in a new way every time it is played. As you experience the piece, don’t worry about understanding the rules of the game. Instead, focus on the sounds and their interactions as if listening to a conversation taking place in front of you. 

This piece requires performers to to use the program Max 8 which can be safely downloaded for free here: https://cycling74.com/downloads.

Links: Max Patch My Analysis

Recorded Performers: Brendan Burke, Cameron Church, Indy Breza, Reza Mirzaiee