MIDITREES were one of my first ideas.

For Synesthetics I wanted to build

a large interative musical environment,

and the idea of a garden was the first

thing to come to mind.

My vision included bushes of copper

leaves that you would brush against,

and tall palm trees that you would reach

up to play.

But all I built were three MidiTrees.

Each MidiTree consisted of a telescoping

pole to allow height adjustment in relation

to the height of the players, and aesthetic

reasons as well. At the top of the pole

was a foam ball. from the ball four straightened

coathangers reached out like a palm leaf.

I ran wires up the pole and out the branches,

leaving two or three feet dangling.

The wires were bared for the last 6 inches

or so, and I fashioned leaf-like switches

from copper tape. As the leaves touched,

MIDI notes were triggered.

I covered each of the telescoping poles

with fabulous black blower hose for an

industrial palm tree look.

I covered each of the coathager wires with

a smaller black plastic corrugated tubing

which looked very much like a smaller version

of the blower hose.

Then I cut 2 foot sections of PVC tubing,

put them in 5 gallon buckets, and filled

the remainder with cement to make solid,

stable bases.

Synesthetics occured a week before Halloween

so I finished the decorations by hanging

little skulls and skeletons from them.

When the three trees were set up in Washington

Perfomance Hall, they stood between seven and

ten feet high.

And although the interactive effect of that

particular show was an absoulte chaotic nightmare,

the look was fabulous and true to my original vision.

Knowing that I owed the Trees another shot at

impressing the public, I have resurrected them

for live industrial music performances in Seattle's

Pioneer Square. Since it was just me playing them,

the ever frightening and uncontrollable interactive

element was removed and the result was one of ther

most satisfying experiences I've had on stage.