Colfax performing at the West Coast Championship Controller Battle, an example of Conjuration. Photo – SpaceCat Photography

With so many tools, tricks, approaches and techniques tied to creating and performing electronic music these days,  a beginner willing to take it up might not know where to start.

I thought that a system of classifying the approaches to creating the audio during live performances (which basically dictates a lot of the other choices that follow) might be really helpful. I’m in no way suggesting a rigid method of classifying all controllerists, but rather a system to help anyone willing to take up controllerism choose his or her future approach to live performance.

The ITCH system is as follows:

Transfiguration – Turning something into something else: using pre-recorded loops and patterns to mash together, effect and generally mangle in any way to create a track or live set. Examples: Ean Golden, Nosaj Thing, Daedelus.

Conjuration – Creating something out of nothing: using virtual instruments or a collection of sounds/one shots/noises to create a track or set, either by live looping and overdubbing or by playing the whole thing from beginning to end. Examples: Edison, Jeremy Ellis (when using the Maschine exclusively), Colfax.

Hybrid – Heavily relying on both Conjuration and Transfiguration to create a live track or set. Although C Controllerists might use some occasional slices and T Controllerists might use one shots sometimes, H Controllerists use both approaches to an extent that letting go of either would mean not having a live set at all. Examples: Audiosurfer, Soul Glitch.

There’s also an Instrument Approach to each of these types, which basically means using an external audio source (an electric guitar, a didgeridoo, a hardware synth, an MPC, beatboxing, a plastic water bottle, etc) in conjunction with the audio created by the software. Examples: Moldover (after the light theremin album), Tim Exile.

I hope this classification system proves useful to anyone taking up controllerism.