This project consists of 2 electronic/instrumental musical albums, each with 4 songs, aimed at becoming a source of solo therapy for those affected by mental illnesses. The calm album contains calm and relaxing music to combat anxiety and the HAPPY album contains happy and uplifting music to combat depression. While the musical elements stabilize the listener’s mental state, their own internal dialogue and meditation work to heal the listener’s mental illness.

Music can be an incredibly powerful tool, and in an age where technology allows us to connect with those that don’t live near us, finding ways to use music to encourage that bonding can be incredibly beneficial. Particularly, in a global pandemic such as COVID-19, finding ways to connect with others remotely is more important than ever. In this study, I will be looking at how one artist in particular, Tessa Violet, manages to continue to not only grow her community, but also encourage her community to bond with each other. She achieves this by finding various ways, unique to her and her branding, that allows her community to connect with each other. By using her platform to give scavenger hunts to her fanbase, promoting and fostering community growth through various platforms, and livestreaming in ways unique to her style, she is able to connect her audience with each other. By engaging and observing these various actions on her part, I am able to see and experience this community bonding myself. I also look at ways this might be able to expanded to other artists and their communities as well. The hope is that the internet and social media can be just another form of music encouraging people to connect with one another.

In this paper, I propose that taking an embodied approach to music performance can allow for better gestural control over the live sound produced and greater connection between the performer and their audience. I examine the many possibilities of live electronic manipulation of the voice such as those employed by past and current vocalists who specialize in live electronic sound manipulation and improvisation. Through extensive research and instrument design, I have sought to produce something that will benefit me in my performances as a vocalist and help me step out from the boundaries of traditional music performance. I will discuss the techniques used for the creation of my gestural instrument through the lens of my experiences as a performer using these tools. I believe that, through use of movement and gesture in the creation and control of sound, it is more than possible to step away from conventional ideas of live vocal performance and create something new and unique, especially through the inclusion of improvisation.