Matthew Brucell

School of Music – BFA4 – Music Technology

jSmp-55 is a physical experience to accommodate my EP and is part of my BFA thesis. One of the main driving forces in my art is nostalgia from the portable tech I was given in my childhood, and the magic I felt exploring small products that utilized limited hardware. In music I find the limited amount of performance with low voices/low sample and bit rates result in composers creating with bold intention. Being born in 2000 portable tech with wide functionality has always been a constant in my life, an indisputable fact. The Nintendo DS, Samsung flip phones, digital cameras, etc. are some personal examples of the tech I never questioned but lived through and explored as a child. This thesis is a chance for me to recreate that experience in my control. I wonder if I’m just in a perpetual nostalgic trip, but the further I get into this I think technology and its user experience can go down a different and better path then it seems to be going in. Something that I still clearly remember.