Posted in Documentation on March 24th, 2012 by admin
ZAGREB
Sometimes when I think back, all my workshops seem to go by this fast…
The participants in Zagreb were great, super-motivated and highly imaginative. Each and every one of them made some incredibly special and unique SoundBox during the two days we had together, and even played them too… We also squeezed in an early morning trip to the local flea market to put the shop back into workshop. Big thanks to Deborah Hustic for organization and hospitality! Was also great to see some old friends around town, such as Ivan “Kliff” Marusic and Borut Savski.
I think my favorite SoundBox from this workshop was this one, crafted from the end of a trashed accordion:
Playing next Friday with Jelena Glazova in Riga. Had two really great sets, one in Zagreb last week and one last night in Tallinn, with the “new” setup: soundbox, found objects and analog mini-synth, discovering the possibilities of how they work together. Looking forward to mixing with Jelena’s amazing processed vocals.
At the Estonian gig, something in the PA starting smelling quite smokey, despite the fact that everything sounded fine, and afterward many people told me what kind of emotions that smell triggered for them. Interesting… but I don’t want to make a career out of smoking PAs!
In case anyone is curious, Holzer Sr.’s film project Kickstarter has 18 hours to go and has been a success. He flies to Marietta, Georgia on the 14th to have the film transferred to digital and after that I can get to work on the soundtrack. Should be an curious collaboration.
I have absolutely no work lined up for next month, which should make me a bit nervous. But I’ve decided to spend less time online, build some new soundbox-type instruments and get busy pushing them. Please get in contact if you would like something custom.
Somehow, I had it in my head that I was flying to Zagreb tomorrow. So today was a great day to assemble a new instrument! I was almost disappointed when I realized I have another day to spare still. This time, I set up the Macumbista Mini case with 2 x Thomas Henry VCOs, one CGS Digital Noise, one Serge Smooth/Stepped Generator and 2 x Analog Multipliers, as well as two built-in, padded line-outs and a new LED gooseneck mount. The first test-patch I made with it settled any doubts about the choice of modules. This one rocks. Incredible chaotic feedback possibilities from what I would like to (lovingly) think of as a cross-modulated-cluster-fuck. Roll that one in your textbooks of academic electronic music and smoke it…
Derek Holzer (USA 1972) is an audiovisual artist, researcher, lecturer, and electronic instrument creator based in Stockholm. He has performed live, taught workshops and created scores of unique instruments and installations since 2002 across Europe, North and South America, and New Zealand. He is currently a PhD researcher in Media & Interaction Design at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, focusing on historically informed audiovisual synthesis.
