Tiny Noise showcase/TodaysArt
subject = LOUDNESS
De Vinger, Bagijnestraat 25
Den Haag 25 September 2010

Andre Goncalvez [PT]
Derek Holzer [USA/DE]
John Fanning/Massaccesi[USA]
Koray Tahiroglu [TU/FI]
Kyd Campbell [CAN/DE]
DJ Toni Dimitrov/Every Kid on Speed[MK]

Looking forward to the chance to do another chaotic synth-controlled strobe piece here. Thanks to Kyd for hooking the whole deal up!

Now Playing

g.i. gurdjieff–meetings with remarkable men book [1963]
starkweather–this sheltering night[2010 deathwish inc]
thrones–late for dinner 7″[2010 conspiracy]

The following are tests of the chaotic synthesis system I’m working on, and in no way should be considered “finished pieces”:

*chaos01.mp3

*chaos02.mp3

Modules used in these recordings:

Thomas Henry XR-2206 VCO (Bugbrand PCB layout)(VCO range)
Thomas Henry XR-2206 VCO (Bugbrand PCB layout)(LFO range)
Ian Fritz EZ Chaos (Uncle Krunkus stripboard layout)

In the first example, chaos01.mp3, the triangle waveform of the LFO drives the EZ Chaos. The Z (marked NL on schematic) output of the EZ Chaos drives the 1V/Oct input of the VCO. Both Drive and Rate pots are set about at the middle, and the Damping is totally turned down. As you can hear, it maintains a very steady modulation. The changes in modulation pattern only come from my manually adjusting the LFO.

In the second example, chaos02.mp3, the poti settings and routing remain the same from chaos01.mp3. However, I have routed the Y output to the Linear FM of the LFO, and the X output to the Exponential FM of the LFO. The modulations become much more chaotic in this setup. Through the clip, I adjust the depth of the LinFM, ExpFM and the general rate of the LFO. Better, don’t you think?

For me, the modulation patterns in chaos01.mp3 sound to me like a non-linear transfer function, but don’t sound chaotic at all in the sense that the transfer function remains almost identical for every cycle of the LFO at any frequency tested.

My understanding of chaotic synthesis usually involves feedback between at least two–but in my experiments up to 8–cross-modulated VCOs with a non-linear function in the feedback loop. The results tend towards certain attractors, but every cycle is distinct from the previous one, even if after 3 or 7 or 15 cycles you might return to a common origin.

Assuming that my EZ Chaos circuit functions as it should, the benefit I see out of it would be the ability to make chaotic patterns from a single LFO through the feedback. Normally I would have to use 2 or more LFOs to get the same kind of chaotic oscillations.

However, by itself I don’t hear chaos coming from this circuit, only non-linearity. It’s the feedback in chaos02.mp3 that makes it chaotic for me. Looking at a double well attractor on the scope is one thing, but hearing it is the proof…

Updated info on the chaos circuit as well as some tuning tips can be found on the Elby Designs page for their ED108-ChaQuO module.

Just confirmed to play UH Fest on the night of 9 October, sandwiched tightly in between one workshop in Malmö and another in Bergen that I will post about later on. The UH set will be solo for chaotic analog synthesizer, smoke and lights.

So far the confirmed artists for the night are:

Derek Holzer
Lau Nau
Valerio Tricoli with Robert Piotrowicz
Kuupuu
Jazkamer
STU
Thomas Fehlmann

More fun than a poke in the eye!

Now Playing

antoine chessex–le point immobile 3″ cd[2010 mnoad]
antoine chessex & valerio tricoli–chessex/tricoli 12″[2010 dilemma][merci antoine!!!]
bastard noise–a culture of monsters cd[2010 deep six]
don hassler–no subsequent interference cd[2010 vicmod]
elu of nine–elu of the nine cs[2010 woodsmoke]
jason r. butcher–chaotic synthesis recording #3 cd[2009][thx jason!!!]
keith barnard–colour harmonies cs[1985]
neanderthal–official discography[1990-92]

We are happy to announce the first confirmed artist for APPARAT.

Those in love with the art of sounds (and noise ! ) can already count the days until Derek Holzer (US) arrives to Aalborg. HIs main profile is precisely the studies of noise and its art-tech application. Holzer will run a four-days long workshop under the title Neanderthal Electronics where the participants will construct their own personal analog synthesizers and in the end they will collaborate in a public performance. During this workshop both simple-primitive/found objects and modern devices (capacitors, transistors, LEDs, sensors and different audio inputs etc) will be applied in order to achieving the perfect and very personal sound environment.

Beside leading the noise-workshop Holzer will perform himself as well. A solo and improvised performance will be presented by him and a bunch of analog sound equipment.

Please note that pre-registering is required for the workshop. More info on this to come.

Now Playing

bee mask–canzoni dal laboratorio del silenzio cosmico cs[2010 gift tapes]
expo 70–the vanishing world within[2010 sonic meditations]
fred nipi–qanngirpalippuq lp[2009 galerie pache](merci fred!!!)
john fahey–fare forward voyagers (soldier’s choice)[1973 takoma]
lars lundehave hansen–catching fire[2010 con-v]
mika vainio & kouhei matsunaga-split lp[2010 important]
tomoko sauvage + noyade–asper #1 winter 09 split lp[2009 asper](arigato tomoko-chan!!!)
various artists–to scratch your heart: early recordings from istanbul[2010 honest jons]
zaïmph–coast to coast c40[2010 gift tapes]

Cthonian Cell Observation I (Continuous Pressure Wave for Elevator Car), 2010
A Sound Performance by Derek Holzer in the context of the KHM Heavy Matter exhibition at ISEA 2010, Dortmund

Self-made analog modular synthesizer, guitar amplifier, strobe lights

Opening: Thursday 19 August 2010, 19.00-22.00
Performance evening: Monday 23 August 2010, 19.00-22.00
Westfalenforum, Kampstr. 35 – 37, Dortmund, Germany

Drawing on the underworld mythology of heavy metal and noise music, Cthonian Cell Observation I is a three hour long concert for an audience of one. The performance takes place in the narrow confines of an elevator car filled with an overpowering, physical mass of sound pressure and blinding lights. A single person may be admitted to the space at a time, which is barely large enough to accommodate them, the performer and all the equipment necessary to make the performance. Those outside, hearing almost nothing, may guess at what kind of experience the listener inside is undergoing. But each one is unknowably alone once they step through the door.

Now Playing

kevin drumm–necro acoustic 5cd box[2010 picadisk]

Mal au Pixel, Le Chat Noir, 76 rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, Paris • 21h-0h • 3€

Derek Holzer | Circlemakers (Gaël Angelis, Magali Sanheira, Julien Sirjacg) | Jérôme Poret

+ Ars Longa installation by Gaël Angelis, Magali Sanheira, Julien Sirjacg & Jérôme Poret [fr]

Now Playing

alma daaé–wormwood star[2009 mars pyramid]
kevin lynam–tone cloud[2009 mars pyramid]
neun welten–destrunken[2009 prophecy records]
oranssi pazuzu–muukalainen puhuu[2009 violent journey]
paul schrader–cat people film[1982]
vikomt–twilight visions[2009 mars pyramid]
william t. vollmann–you bright and risen angels book[1987]

Neanderthal Electronics workshop presentation
by students of the hfg Offenbach, Elektronische Medien
…plus Macumbista live analog electronics set

Monday 14 June 2010, 19:00-21:00
Waggon am Kulturgleis, Main riverbank near Isenburger Schloß, Offenbach

Neanderthal Electronics

The Neanderthal Electronics workshop involves 8-10 people with no previous background in electronics. They are shown how to use simple objects from our modern environment (resistors, capacitors, transistors, LEDs, integrated circuit chips…) to design and build their own personal, customized primitive noise synthesizers. Each is a tiny world of its own, using primitive analog computers in combination with feedback, sensors and audio inputs to create a unique sound. Even from the same plan, no two are alike!

Participants are encouraged to use found materials for the construction of their personal instrument, with an emphasis on discovering creative and physical methods of controlling the them. The workshop concludes with a group performance and an invitation to the audience to experiment with each of the instruments which have been created.

Info + photos/video: http://macumbista.net/?page_id=497

Macumbista

Macumbista (aka Derek Holzer (1972)) is an American sound artist living in Berlin, whose current interests include DIY analog electronics, sound art, field recording and the meeting points of electroacoustic, noise, improv and extreme music. He has played live experimental sound, as well as taught instrument building and audio recording workshops across Europe, North America, Brazil and New Zealand.

Holzer is currently a fellow at the KHM (Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln) in Cologne.

Info: http://macumbista.net/

Now Playing: Estonian Doom!!!

karl kello–the pharaoh of the north book[2004]
talbot–eos cdr[2010 self-released]
voog–demo cdr[2010 self-released](aitäh terje!)

http://macumbista.tumblr.com/

My new Tumblr page: a scratch pad for visual research, a collection of dreams, images, archetypes, ghosts, abstractions and inspirations. Unexpected fingers pointing to the………….

Now Playing

black mountain transmitter–theory & practice[2010 lysergic earwax]
burzum–belus[2010 byelobog productions]
darkthrone–circle the wagons[2010 peaceville]
emeralds–does it look like i’m here?[2010 editions mego]
fell voices–fell voices[2008]
isengrind–modlitewnik lp[2010 blackest rainbow]
olan mill–pine[2010 serein]
oneohtrix point never–returnal[2010 editions mego]
oren ambarchi, jim o’rourke, keiji haino–tima formosa[2010 black truffle]
prurient–palm tree corpse 3xMC10[2009 hospital productions]

Hear Tallinn with new ears! Buildings and architecture are usually described in visual terms. But it is often our sense of hearing which assists us in experiencing and navigating through the spaces of urban cities. There is no sound without space and no space without a sound. In every day life we are surrounded by the sounds of diverse nature and various origins. Language, sounds of nature and civilisation – sound as a carrier of information or as a factor of disturbance permanently encircles our consciousness.

During the month of May 2010, and over the summer of 2011, Tuned City Tallinn will undertake an acoustic exploration of Tallinn. The goal will be to identify and explore the sonic landmarks of the city which define its identity, shape its communication and transform the perceptions of its visitors and inhabitants. A fascinating cross-section of international artists, performers, scientists and thinkers will be brought together to present their ideas about sound and space. In addition, the public will be invited to participate directly through a series of workshops and sound walks and experience diverse site specific installations, performances and demonstrations. Tuned City Tallinn builds on ideas developed during the first ever event of its kind, held in Berlin during the summer of 2008.

Events may 2010

DATES

FRI 16 April: Buffalo NY–SoundLab, 110 Pearl Street: TONEWHEELS performance + Affecting Animate Nerve Organs (16 artist multi-media installation) [8pm]

(UPDATE!!!!) SUN18 April: Syracuse NY–Spark Contemporary Art Space: TONEWHEELS performance + Heavy Hymns [8pm]

TUE 20 April: NYC, NY–Electronic Music Foundation, 307 7th avenue ste 1402: “A Brief History of Optical Synthesis” lecture [7pm]

WED 21 April-THU 22 April: NYC, NY–Harvestworks: Soundtransit-The Art of Field Recording workshop [6:30pm each night] SOLD OUT!!!

FRI 23 April: NYC, NY–Bent Festival, Dumbo, 81 Front Street: TONEWHEELS workshop [12pm] performance [8pm]

TUES 27 April: NYC, NY–Electronic Music Foundation, 307 7th avenue ste 1402: Tuned City lecture [7pm]

THU 29 April: Providence, RI–Rhode Island School of Design: TONEWHEELS workshop

FRI 30 April: Providence, RI-AS220: TONEWHEELS performance + Black Pus (1/2 Lightning Bolt), Humanbeast and Shawn Greenlee [9pm]

(UPDATE!!! NEW LOCATION!!!) SAT 1 May: Cambridge, MA: Existence Establishment @ MIT Building N52, 265 Massachusetts Ave: TONEWHEELS performance + Karlheinz, Shawn Greenlee, Animal Steel, Brandon Terzakis, Benjamin Nelson, Bombings [8pm]

FLIERS

DETAILS

TONEWHEELS PERFORMANCE

TONEWHEELS is an experiment in converting graphical imagery to sound, inspired by some of the pioneering 20th Century electronic music inventions. Transparent tonewheels with repeating patterns are spun over light-sensitive electronic circuitry to produce sound and light pulsations and textures. This all-analog set is performed entirely live without the use of computers, using only overhead projectors as light source, performance interface and audience display. In this way, TONEWHEELS aims to open up the “black box” of electronic music and video by exposing the working processes of the performance for the audience to see.

TONEWHEELS WORKSHOP

TONEWHEELS is an experiment in converting graphical imagery to sound, inspired by some of the pioneering 20th Century electronic music inventions such as the ANS Synthesizer (Murzin USSR 1937-57), the Variophone (Sholpo USSR 1930) and the Oramics system (Oram UK 1957). In this workshop, participants will learn to construct their own optoelectronic synthesizer using two different circuits: a simple light-to-sound converter and a variable motor speed controller, as well as how to design and print their own tonewheel patterns using the FLOSS software Inkscape.

“A BRIEF HISTORY OF OPTICAL SYNTHESIS”

The technology of synthesizing sound from light is a curious combination of research from the realms of mathematics, physics, electronics and communications theory which found realization in the industries of motion picture films, electronic music, surveillance technology and finally digital communications.

This lecture will touch on various points in the development of optical sound synthesis in these various contexts, referencing the work of Joseph Fourier, Hermann von Helmholtz, Rudolph Koenig, Arseny Avraamov, Thomas Wilfred, Evgeny Scholpo, Nikolai Voinov, Oskar Fischinger, Boris Yankovsky, Edwin Emil Welte, Evgeny Murzin, Norman McLaren, Lev Theremin, Daphne Oram, Jacques Dudon and Iannis Xenakis, among others.

This lecture is given in the context of the opto-electronic performance TONEWHEELS, by Derek Holzer at the Bent Festival the following Friday.

Soundtransit-The Art of Field Recording

Wednesday & Thursday, April 21 & 22 6:30 – 9:30pm $100
Field recording, or phonography, is the art of recording sounds as they are found “in situ”, rather than those created in a studio or concert hall. There are as many ways of approaching field recording as there are field recordists, with interests ranging from recordings of natural or urban environments to improvised situations or soundwalks to the resonance of solid objects or the Earth’s atmosphere.

The first session of this workshop provides a theoretical introduction to the various microphone techniques and recording strategies used for field recording, as well as special tools which allow phenomenon such as physical motion, electromagnetic waves and light can also be converted into sound. This will be followed by a night-time recording excursion into the city.

The second session consists of a critical listening session of the sounds gathered the night before. Key concepts to be explored include musical and cinematic metaphors of sound, composing the cityscape and communicating senses of place and space through sound.

Participants may wish to upload their finished recordings to the Soundtransit.nl website, where they can be used to plan sonic journeys between hundreds of locations around the world.

While the instructor can provide one shared recorder and microphone, participants should bring their own recording equipment when possible. Derek Holzer can provide a simple pair of binaural microphones for sale at a cost of approx $35. They terminate in a right-angle stereo minijack plug, and use the plugin power from the stereo microphone input of the recorder. Please indicate before the workshop date if you would like to buy a pair, and please check that your recorder provides this plugin power (most with minijack stereo mic inputs do) before requesting them.

“Tuned City – Between sound and space speculation”

“Tuned City – Between sound and space speculation” was an exhibition and conference project taking place from July 01.-05. 2008 in Berlin which proposed a new evaluation of architectural spaces from the perspective of the acoustic. It’s next edition is scheduled to take place during the Cultural Capital summer of 2011 in Tallinn, Estonia.

In this lecture, we will see and hear some of the projects from the Tuned City event by Mark Bain, Raviv Ganchrow, Will Schrimshaw, John Grzinich, James Beckett, Akio Suzuki, Barry Blesser, Randy H.Y. Yau + Scott Arford, Thomas Ankersmit + Antoine Chessex, Bernhard Leitner, CRESSON, Farmers Manual, AGF, Chris Watson + BJ Nilsen, Jacob Kirkegaard, Martin Howse, Ralf Schreiber + Martin Kuentz and Staalplaat Sound System will be discussed, among others, as well as related projects covering the themes of Temporary Architecture for Sound, Buildings as Instruments and Composing the Cityscape. A limited number of catalogs and program guides will also be available.

Thanks!

Huge thanks go to Alexis Bhagat of ((audience)) and Shawn Greenlee of RISD for their monumental efforts to get this thing off the ground! Thanks also to Brendan Byrne of Bent, Joel Chadabe of EMF, Hans Tammen of Harvestworks, Egan Budd of Existence Establishment, Natalia Mount of Red House, Michael Baumann of Soundlab and Sean Donaher of CEPA for actually booking me, and to Gill Arno, Raphael Lyon and Tristan Perich for putting up crash space in NYC.

Now Playing

Carl Gustav Jung–Dreams[book 1910-1952]
Pierre Klossowski–Roberte Ce Soir & The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes[book 1953]