unit. He had also begun using cheap guitar transducers and a table full of additional wired objects (pans, metal trays, small tambours and egg-slicers). Cutler experimented briefly with drum pads triggered to play sampled or synthesized sounds, but quickly dismissed this option because he found them unresponsive and inflexible. They reduced a drum to nothing more than a switch: hit it and a pre-programmed sound is emitted, irrespective of how hard or in what manner the drum is struck. Cutler preferred real-time processing: amplifying and modifying actual sounds produced by the drum, making it a kind of an electroacoustic instrument, immediate and responsive, and retaining all the qualities of an acoustic drum kit. Cutler went on to wire his entire drum kit, using a 16 channel mixer with multi-effect processors, a "Space pedal", a "Whammy pedal", a PDS 8000 and an old Boss pitch shifter/delay unit. In addition to transducers, he also attached miniature microphones to some of the drums and sticks. Cutler introduced feedback into the mix by placing a monitor speaker near the kit. The electrified drum kit continues to evolve and to Cutler it is "satisfyingly unpredictable", responsive to all his old techniques while continuing to generate new ones. It has a unique "voice" that Cutler still has not plumbed the depths of. This is what prompted him to start giving solo performances because it tested his skill at playing an instrument he had to treat as an equal and evolve with. Writings and talks Talks In the early 1980s, Chris Cutler became active in the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM) and started giving talks and participating in symposia throughout the world. Some of the talks he has given are: "Composing with Other People's Music – Creativity or Theft?", British Council, Belgrade. "Electrification and Experimentation, the Development of New Musical Resources in the Popular Field", Union of Composers, Moscow. "Improvisation: Motives and Methods", IASPM, University of Leeds. "Rock in Opposition, a case study". Academy of Science, Berlin. "Studio Composition and Visualisation" – a case study IASPM, University, Montreal "Sonic and Structural Convergence at the fringes of Musical Genres". The Royal College of Art, London. "On The Impact of Recording Technology on Popular music." Pomeriggi Musicali do Milano. "Plunderphonics and Postmodernism", Dissonanten, Rotterdam. "Sampling and Plunderphonics", Museum School, Boston. "The Recording Studio as a Compositional Instrument", The Royal College of Art, London. Essays Cutler