Arts preview: Electric Company provides mobile laptop music

When it came to forming his own laptop orchestra, composer and multimedia musician Samson Young Kar-fai decided to think differently. He had been involved in laptop orchestras that left the audience disconnected and confused - something that happens, he thinks, because performers are hidden behind their devices.

So last year, when he started Electric Company, a 10-piece laptop orchestra previously named CLOrk (City Laptop Orchestra), Young made sure it was truly mobile from the outset.

Instead of staying at a laptop station, all the musicians are equipped with an all-in-one sound contraption so they can move around. This consists of fully charged cordless gear, an interface, and a wireless boom box. It gives the orchestra optimal mobility, and this makes it possible for them to throw in theatrical elements and perform outdoors. The orchestra also uses elements such as gestural sensing and bio-sensing to provide a more visual experience.

"The laptop is a great instrument, because it's reprogrammable and very powerful. Any devices that can detect physical interaction and input [data] for a laptop to program into sound can turn it into an instrument," says Young.

"We call ourselves an orchestra, and we have a conductor, musicians and, occasionally, soloists, like conventional music; this gives a sense of comfort to the audience.