Mezcal: A Collaborative Transmission Art Instrument

August Black

Mezcal: A Collaborative Transmission Art Instrument
Image credit: August Black
  • oral
  • Presence: in person
  • Duration: 16
  • Type: long
  • Session: Togethering

Abstract:

Mezcal is a browser-based instrument for real-time acoustic interchange that is mobile, accessible, and lives on the web as a 24/7 WebRTC service. Each participant that visits the URL for the server is automatically connected together in a horizontal improvisational audio context; no one controls the mix. The interface presents each participant with an uncluttered audio mixing interface that allows one to play sound from various sources (archives, files, streams) along with input from multiple virtual and connected sound devices (mic, external devices, Jack/Blackhole, etc.). Altogether, when combined with broadcasting strategies, Mezcal allows multiple remote participants to collaborate with sub-second latency and affords a more ambulant and discursive style of radio that is often cross-border, archive-driven, and environmentally engaged. This paper discusses the history, motivation, and genesis of this work while also discussing its technical makeup, current status, future directions, and aesthetic and creative use in various cultural and activist domains.