Recording on Lake Michigan, 2006

Soundtransit.nl Field Recording Workshop: 22-23 August, Almere, the Netherlands

I’m giving a two day workshop on listening to and making field recordings as part of the SITE2F7 Festival next weekend, 22-23 August 2008.

The workshop will run from 17:00-23:00 or later on the Friday night. In the afternoon we’ll listen to examples of different types and approaches to field recording from the Soundtransit.nl website as well as various CDs. Then we’ll learn a bit about using professional sound recording gear such as the Sound Devices 700-series field recorder, DPA microphone capsules, Mid/Side microphone rigs, windscreens and more. Then in the evening we’ll go out and record the area around De Paviljeons, a temporary museum space in heart of Almere where the festival is taking place. Saturday, from 10:00-17:00 we’ll listen to, critique and edit for presentation the recordings of the participants.

There will be a final presentation of the participants’ recordings as well as other works I’ve selected from Soundtransit.nl and other places at 20:00 that evening. There should be a few places left, and I think that it’s free… contact: festival@site2f7.nl

Das Kleine Field Recordings Festival: 20 September, Berlin, Germany

Yesterday I flew back from Riga, where I spent a fantastic weekend exploring old Soviet bunkers and foggy beaches, playing drones with some “forest folk” Latvian hippy friends on the student radio, checking out the Skaņu mežs festival and ruminating on the time-bending properties of Rigas Black Balzams. Expect a festival review in the near future right here.

Next mountain on the horizon is a DIY electronics workshop I’m running for the exhibition “Waves -The Art of the Electromagnetic Society”, put together by Inke Arns, Armin Medosch and the HMKV art center in Dortmund. The exhibition opened last weekend and my workshop will take place at the end of this month. There’s probably still space, so my German or would-be German friends are welcome to jump on board. Details below…

TONEWHEELS
Workshop with Derek Holzer (USA)

HMKV in the PHOENIX Halle Dortmund
May 29 – June 1, 2008 (Thu – Sun)
Max. 15 participants, in English
Registration until May 22, 2008 at info@hmkv.de or Tel +49 – 231 – 823 106

In the framework of “Waves -The Art of the Electromagnetic Society”, HMKV in the PHOENIX Halle Dortmund, May 10 – June 29, 2008, opening: Friday, May 9, 2008, 19:00, www.hmkv.de

PHOENIX Halle Dortmund
Hochofenstr. / Ecke Rombergstr.
Dortmund-Hoerde

Tonewheels is an experiment in converting graphical imagery to sound, inspired by some of the pioneering twentieth-century electronic music inventions. Transparent tonewheels with repeating patterns are spun over light-sensitive electronic circuitry to produce sound and light pulsations and textures, while projected graphical loops and textures add richness to the visual environment. This all-analogue 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.

The Tonewheels workshop will provide an introduction to simple techniques of optical synthesis using overhead projectors, transparencies, motors, lasers, LEDs, simple integrated circuit chips, photoresistors, phototransistors, and photodiodes. It will require no previous knowledge of electronics to take part. Participants will make simple circuits to turn light directly into sound and drive motors which can spin or move transparencies over these circuits. They will also have an opportunity to design sound-producing transparencies, either on the computer using Inkscape or similar drawing software, or by hand using ink pens.

http://umatic.nl/tonewheels.html

Enquiries about the workshop, registration until May 22, 2008:
Hartware MedienKunstVerein, info@hmkv.de or Tel +49 – 231 – 823 106

Schedule:
Thu 11:00-19:00 Workshop
Fri 11:00-18:00 Workshop (from 18:00 video program “Abstracts of Syn” by Medienturm Graz)
Sat 11:00-19:00 Workshop
Sat 20:00 final presentation and performance by Derek Holzer
Sun 11:00 brunch

Regulations:
– the participants will pay the costs for travel, food and accomodation
– free admission
– HMKV recommends the City Hotel Dortmund (http://www.cityhotel-dortmund.de/) or Ruhgebiet (http://www.ruhgebiet.de)

Now Playing

ASVA – What You Don’t Know is Frontier [Southern]
Kinit Her – Bone Marrow Artifacts [Archive.org]
Geronimo – Geronimo [31g]
Robedoor – Rancor Keeper [Release the Bats]
Salome – Salome [Vendetta]

Black Trashhhhh! DJ set 28.04.08

Next Monday I’m DJing some FUCKING METAL for a noise show organized by my favorite Attention Deficit Disorder victim in Berlin, Pato.

[click pic for big]

28/04/08 Black Trashhhhhh!

* xxxxx/mh/others
* Stupidity
* Penelopex
* Ent
* Macumbista DJ

+ guests

Madame Claude
Lubbener Str. 19
Kreuzberg Berlin
UBahn Schlesiches Tor
19:00

PD Sensor Workshop 26.04.08

April 26th 2PM: AVR/HID Sensor Input into Pure Data with Derek Holzer & Martin Howse

We will continue last month’s investigation of quick and cheap ways of getting sensor input into the Pure Data programming environment, using either USB game controllers or ATmega8 microcontrollers and the HID (Human Interface Device) protocol. Participants should bring the AVR/HID boards and/or hacked joysticks from the previous workshop. Those who did not attend the previous workshop are welcome, and ready made sensor boards can be purchased as part of the participation fee. Please RSVP to m@1010.co.uk if you plan to attend, and indicate whether you will need a sensor input board for Saturday.

A few (!) sample sensors will be provided, but participants are encouraged to bring their own sensors (light, pressure, motion, etc…) for experimentation. The Pure Data programming environment will be used to get the sensor information into the computer and map it to different parameters, ranging from MIDI to direct control of audio or video.

Windows users should be aware that the possibilities for input on their systems may be more restricted. GNU/Linux and Mac OS X users should not expect any problems.

Some links for those interested:

http://1010.co.uk/avrhid.html (AVR/HID board documentation)
http://puredata.info/downloads (install PD-Extended 0.39 from here!)
http://www.sensorwiki.org/index.php/Main_Page (comprehensive list of
sensors for musical use)

—What to bring:

Essential:

1) Laptop running Linux, OS X or Windows (be advised that Windows users may have fewer possibilities)
2) Pure Data Extended 0.39 installed from: http://puredata.info/downloads (please mind that it is Extended and 0.39!!!!)
3) Soundcard (internal or external, quality a non-issue)
4) Headphones
5) EUR 10 participation fee (+ 8 euros if you need a sensor board)

Recommended/Suggested:

1) Sensors of any kind
2) USB game controller of any kind
3) Microphones or other sound inputs
4) Your own project ideas for discussion

xxxxx_workshops

A (more-or-less) weekly series of constructivist workshops emphasising making and connection within the field of the existent. Workshops led by field-expert practitioners extend over realms of code and embedded code, environmental code, noise, transmission and reception, and electromysticism. Workshops solely utilise free software and GNU toolbase.

xxxxx, pickledfeet, Linienstrasse 54, Berlin 10119

Telephone: 3050187482.

http://pickledfeet.com

Other News: blackdronoisemetalove in Copenhagen

This past month I’ve been on the road quite a bit. First I went to Copenhagen to play a couple sets for the very cool folks at the Co-Lab Gallery with my friend Morten Skrøder. For the curious, I’ve posted some rough MP3s here, and I’ll be meeting Morten again in CPH on 5 May to do some more jamming and recording! Each recording is approx 25 min long…

Macumbista & Skroeder, blackdronoisemetalove I, Co-Lab Gallery Copenhagen, 22.03.08 (33 Mb)
Macumbista & Skroeder, blackdronoisemetalove II, Co-Lab Gallery Copenhagen, 22.03.08 (41 Mb)

Sorry, still waiting for photos… Listen for the part in the first set where the irate upstairs neighbor came down to bitch us out! The mics were next to the drinks, so you might also hear the occasional Kroner getting tossed in the box…

Other News: Pure Data in Croatia

Then I spent a crazy week on the Croatian island of Korcula to work on a beginner’s manual for the Pure Data software with Luka Princic and Adam Hyde (remotely). Results to be published soon at FLOSS Manuals. Here’s me, hard at work on my sunburn during one of the days we managed to escape the laptops…

Other News: Tuned City Performances

And for the next couple months I’ll be super-busy organizing the performance program for an event about sound and architecture called Tuned City, which will take place in Berlin from 1-5 July 2008. So far, we are very happy to be able to invite Randy H.Y. Yau & Scott Arford, Thomas Ankersmit & Antoine Chessex, BJ Nilsen & Chris Watson, Mark Bain, Staalplaat Sound System, Martin Howse, Jacob Kirkegaard, Leif E. Boman, Harold Schellinx, Lasse Marc Riek and many others… you can subscribe to the Tuned City news list via the website and get updates. Hope to see some of y’all there!

Now Reading

J.G. Ballard – War Fever
Phillip K. Dick – The Eye of the Sibyl: The Collected Stories of Phillip K. Dick Volume 5
Denis Johnson – Tree of Smoke

Now Playing

Daniel Menche – Glass Forest CD [Important Records]
Daniel Menche – Bodymelt LP [Important Records]
BJ Nilsen & Stilluppsteypa – Passing Out CD [Helen Scarsdale]
Dead Black Arms – Like the Night of Thunder and Rain MP3 [Archive.org]

Somehow, I seem to have stumbled into three different projects in the upcoming Club Transmediale festival, and I’d like to invite those of you coming to Berlin this weekend or next week to check them out.

The first is a preview weekend for an event on sound and architecture planned for July 2008 called Tuned City. For the first Club Transmediale weekend, we have a mini-conference at the Ballhaus Naunynstrasse on SAT 26/01, featuring artists, academics and urban scientists reflecting on the topic, as well as a “keynote” Q&A between Brandon LaBelle and Max Neuhaus. This event is meant as both a kickoff and a call for interested persons. Drop by if you’d like to talk with us!

* TUNED CITY CONFERENCE @ CTM *
* TUNED CITY WEBSITE *

On SUN 27/01 there will be a performance evening on the same theme at the Maria club that I co-curated, called Tuned Space, featuring Dallas Simpson, BJNilssen & Hildur Gudnadottir, Mattin, Daniel Menche and Mark Bain. The night should go from quiet minimal world of found objects and sounds through to the body- and building-crushing power of subsonic rumblings.

* TUNED SPACE @ CTM *

Then my “electroacoustic death metal” duo ABOMINATIONS (with Argentinian drummer Marcelo Aguirre) plays on the Dark Alloy night WEDS 30/01 alongside Wolves in the Throne Room, Utarm, Shit & Shine and Ives no. 1. Esoteric drones and non-linear distortion meet animalistic vocals and percussive brutality!

* DARK ALLOY @ CTM *
* ABOMINATIONS WEBSITE *

And during that whole week, I an co-coordinating the xxxxx-Workshops: [in]tolerance series at the Ballhaus Naunynstrasse. This series focuses on noise electronics and free software, emphasising making and connection within the field of the existent. Workshop leaders include Jessica Rylan, Alejandra Perez Nuñez, Frederik Olofsson, Martin Howse, Martin Kuentz and Andrei Smirnov, with whom I will conduct the Digital Theremin workshop. The workshops are long since full, but you can drop by the public presentations each night of the week at 18:00 from TUE 29/01 to SAT 02/02, with the final workshop performance taking place at 20:00 on SAT 02/02.

* XXXXX-WORKSHOPS: [IN] TOLERANCE *
* XXXXX/PICKLED FEET WEBSITE *

Hope to see you all in the coming weeks!

Now Playing

Bolz’n – Riemen (unreleased)
Destructo Swarmbots – Clear Light (Public Guilt)
Iannis Xenakis – Iannis Xenakis (Edition RZ)
Magicicada – Everyone is Everyone (Public Guilt)
Various Artists– Untitled 3xCD (Underadar, Public Guilt, Epicene)
Zaïmph – Emblem (W.M.O./R)
Skullflower – Abyssic Lowland Hiss (Heavy Blossom)
Tim Hecker – Atlas 10″ (Audraglint)
Wolf Eyes – Dog Jaw (Heresee)

Thanks to Pure for letting me plunder his CD collection over the holidays for many of these!

Registration is now open for the xxxxx-Workshops I co-curated with Martin Howse. Some interesting local Berliner artists combined with special guests from Russia, the USA and Chile!

Check the website here for full details.

*****

xxxxx-workshops: [in]tolerance
29 Janaury – 2 February 2008
Ballhaus Naunynstrasse, Berlin

xxxxx-workshops: [in]tolerance presents a series of constructivist workshops specially programmed for the ClubTransmediale 2008 festival, emphasising making and connection within the field of the existent. Workshops are led by international, field-expert practitioners, extending over realms of environmental code, noise, signal transmission, reception, and electromysticism. The workshops will utilise household materials and chemistry, readily-available electronics components, free software and the GNU toolbase.

Over the course of five days, participants will have the opportunity to construct a set of various electronic audiovisual artifacts (being either code or hardware) with which a final presentation/performance will be made. In learning how to create complex sound and image generators from the most basic elements, the participants will explore liminal electronic experiences and intriguing phenomena where carefully-engineered borders and parameters are twisted and transgressed, producing unexpected results in performance.

Workshops:
29.1. NOISE_PRODUCE by Martin Howse (UK) & Martin Kunetz (DE)
30.1. ONE BIT MUSIC by Frederik Olofsson (SE)
31.1. DIGITAL THEREMIN WORKSHOP by Andrei Smirnov (RU) & Derek Holzer (US/NL)
01.2. CHAOS IN NODES AND NETWORKS by Jessica Rylan (US)
02.2. BASTARD NATURES by Alejandra Perez Nuñez (CL)

The series takes inspiration from and continues the development of the (semi)weekly xxxxx workshops held at the Pickled Feet space in Berlin over the last year. It is supported by Arduino.

Theme:
“…in the good old days of Shannon’s mathematical theory of information, the maximum of information coincided strangely with maximal unpredictability or noise…” [Friedrich Kittler: There is no software]

Engineers and scientists are concerned with prediction and thus predictability. Inside black-boxed apparatus the faint markings of tolerance, deviations from a predictable scenario towards the encryption of noise, can well be observed by the wily artist. Technology is thus exposed as a material expressing a certain chaos, pure noise of all voices. In return, materiality and an artistic concern with the matter of technology allows for the entry of the unpredictable, environmental noise within an otherwise closed circuit or economy.

Registration:
xxxxx-workshops is open to anyone, from novice to experienced electronic artist. The workshops will be held in English. You can register for single workshops or for the whole series. In addition to the actual daily workshops, a free open work-area gives everyone opportunity to pursue projects begun in one of the workshops over the course of five days. The registration fee for a single workshop is 10.- EUR, the fee for the series of all five workshops is 30.- EUR.

For descriptions of the workshops and workshop leaders go to:
http://www.clubtransmediale.de/club-transmediale/xxxxx-workshops.html

You can register till January 14, 2008, by sending an email to: xxxxx@clubtransmediale.de

Please don’t forget to indicate which of the workshops you wish to attend.

xxxxx-workshops: [in]tolerance is curated by Martin Howse and Derek Holzer, and produced by Jan Rolf and Anke Eckardt for Club Transmediale.