Posted in Announcement on April 24th, 2013 by admin
The Spring SoundBoxes are small, portable and battery-powered electro-acoustic instruments. They can create a variety of drone and reverb-type sounds through feedback between a small speaker and a resonant piezo-electric microphone, as seen in this video. Or they can bring out the hidden sounds within found objects as seen in this video.
These SoundBoxes are unique, handmade works of sonic art, made from German cigar boxes dating from the 1930’s to the 1960’s, and feature 92mm black speakers, a resonant-spring contact mic, a line-out for recording and “circuit-bending” body contacts. They can also simply be used as cigar-box amplifiers for whatever other electronic instruments you might have.
Each of these SoundBoxes can be purchased for EUR 83 (EU) / EUR 69.75 (non-EU) plus postage costs. Please include the number in the edition which interests you.
This is the first ten of an edition of thirty this season. The second ten SoundBoxes in this edition feature a smaller, backlit 77mm transparent speaker with artwork inside the boxes, and can be seen here.
Contact “macumbista” AT_THE_DOMAIN “gmail.com”. Thank you for your kind attention.
All boxes pictured have been SOLD. Please contact me for custom-order possibilities, I often find new cigar boxes which can be used for these instruments.
Posted in Announcement on March 26th, 2013 by admin
I am finally able to offer the last three in the line of thirty Solstice SoundBoxes for sale, which I started in December 2012. The Solstice SoundBoxes were intended as small, portable and battery-powered electro-acoustic instruments. They can create a variety of drone and reverb-type sounds through feedback between a small speaker and a resonant piezo-electric microphone, as seen in this video. Or they can bring out the hidden sounds within found objects as seen in this video. A variety of other features were available, including transparent and backlit speakers, decorations within the box, line-outs and “circuit-bending” body contacts. They could also simply be used as cigar-box amplifiers for whatever other electronic instruments you might have.
I will also begin a new line of Spring SoundBoxes for 2013 very soon!
Solstice SoundBox 9/30 SOLD!
This box features a 92mm black paper speaker, a hi-gain input (silver jack), volume control, audio-responsive LED light, and six “cracklebox” style body contacts housed in a vintage cardboard silverware case. This SoundBox ships with a resonant coil contact microphone. Price: EUR 55 + shipping from Berlin and European VAT (if applicable).
Solstice SoundBox 28/30 SOLD!
This box features a 92mm black paper speaker, a hi-gain input (silver jack), a line out (black jack), volume control, audio-responsive LED light, and six “cracklebox” style body contacts housed in a 1950’s cedar cigar box. The original paper hinge has been reenforced with archival bookbinder’s tape. This SoundBox ships with a resonant coil contact microphone. Price: EUR 75 + shipping from Berlin and European VAT (if applicable).
Solstice SoundBox 29/30 SOLD!
This box features a 92mm black paper speaker, a hi-gain input (silver jack), a line out (black jack), volume control, audio-responsive LED light, and six “cracklebox” style body contacts housed in a contemporary cigar box. The original paper hinge has been reenforced with archival bookbinder’s tape. This SoundBox ships with a resonant coil contact microphone. Price: EUR 65 + shipping from Berlin and European VAT (if applicable). Please note that this box clearly says “Made in Cuba” in several places, therefore I cannot guarantee delivery to customers in the USA.
Posted in Announcement on December 31st, 2012 by admin
LEARNING TO LISTEN: an Artist Talk and Workshop with Derek Holzer Jan 06-07 2013, Marfa Book Company, 105 South Highland, Marfa, Texas 6PM-8:30PM Jan 09 2013, Michael Strogoff, 124 E. El Paso St, Marfa, Texas 8PM
I do what I do because I never learned to play the guitar. Starting with an interest in field recording and environmental sound, I soon moved to teaching myself to build first digital and then analog non-traditional sound instruments as a way out of the problems of “virtuosity” in music. A great deal of my work involves simply listening, whether to natural or electronically generated soundscapes, searching for that beautiful chaos of birds, hailstorms or cicadas that produce the kinds of dense, arrhythmic textures that I enjoy the most.
As my work is so much about learning to listen, this two day artist-talk and workshop will focus on the art of listening. I’ll start by introducing my history, my practice and the instruments I create. We’ll continue by listening to several field recordings by myself (and possibly others), using these as a springboard to talk about listening from the perspectives of both science (physics, acoustics, psychoacoustics, psychology, etc) and culture (musicology, anthropology, architecture, urban planning, film studies, etc).
There will be opportunities on the second day for workshop participants to play and discuss their own soundscapes, and we will work towards a definition of what “soundscape” actually means. The workshop concludes with an introduction to some of the tools I use to both record natural soundscapes and create my own electronic soundscapes.
This workshop is open to the public and participation is by a donation of your choice. Please bring your own paper and a writing/drawing tool as these will be very important during the workshop!
I will also make an approx 40 minute live performance on Weds, 09 January at 8:00PM in the Michael Strogoff art space, 124 E. El Paso St. The performance is also free or by donation.
DAY ONE – Sunday 06 January 2013 18:00-20:30
Marfa Book Company, 105 South Highland, Marfa, Texas
–Introduction to Holzer’s work: field recordings, digital instruments, analog instruments
–Introduction to Soundscapes: R. Murray Schafer, Pauline Oliveros, Chris Watson, CRESSON, John Cage and others
–Listening Exercises I: field recordings from around the world by Holzer and others
DAY TWO – Monday 07 January 2013 18:00-20:30
Marfa Book Company, 105 South Highland, Marfa, Texas
–Continuing Soundscapes: working towards a definition of the soundscape, the difference between soundscape and “music”
–Listening Exercises II: soundscapes from around the world by Holzer, others and participants
–Tools of the Electronic Soundscape: field recorders, microphones, software, synthesizers, effects
DAY THREE – Wednesday 09 January 2013 20:00
Michael Strogoff, 124 E. El Paso St, Marfa, Texas
–Live sound performance for found objects, SoundBox and analog modular synthesizer
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Derek Holzer (1972) is an American sound artist based in Berlin, Germany, 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 workshops in noise art technology, across Europe, North America, Brazil and New Zealand.
Posted in Documentation on December 20th, 2012 by admin
The Solstice SoundBoxes were intended as small, portable and battery-powered electro-acoustic instruments. They can create a variety of drone and reverb-type sounds through feedback between a small speaker and a resonant piezo-electric microphone. A variety of other features were available, including transparent and backlit speakers, decorations within the box, line-outs and “circuit-bending” body contacts. They could also simply be used as cigar-box amplifiers for whatever other electronic instruments you might have.
On 11 December, I took a huge load to the post office and freed myself for a month-long holiday trip to Marfa, Texas. Out of an edition of 30, 27 were sold or gifted to people, which ain’t too bad for a week’s worth of promotional work. You can see the most of the run below. I plan on another edition in January or February. Stay tuned… and happy Solstice!
The roster of recipients [in no particular order]:
Sonny Rosenberg
Lars Lundehave Hansen
Peter Votava
Carsten Stabenow
Jason R. Butcher
Jonathan Lukacek
Steve Holzer
Juhani Liimatainen
Miki Brunou
David Massey
Walker Farrell
Björn Eriksson
Christian Schiller
Richard Quirk
Gregg Wilson
Rob Appleby
Stefan Paul Goetsch
Luka Ivanovic [not pictured]
Posted in Announcement on December 2nd, 2012 by admin
I have been working on a series of SoundBoxes for sale and as gifts for the Winter Solstice 2012. These SoundBoxes contain a 1/2 Watt audio amplifier, a small speaker and a resonant contact microphone, all housed in beautiful antique cigar boxes or jewelry/silverware cases. Each box is unique and hand made, and bears the traces of its history as an everyday object before it was transformed into a primitive, intuitive feedback-sound-instrument.
This run of SoundBoxes is quite similar to ones which participants have created in my workshops over the last couple years. They can be used to create self-modulating drones, as seen in this video, or to bring out the hidden sounds within found objects as seen in this video.
Finally, as they run on a single 9V battery, you could make a portable concert with any other kind of sound input, such as a guitar, keyboard or smartphone. Some boxes include an line-output, “circuit-bending” style body contact points or a transparent, backlit speaker providing a window to graphical images or patterns inside the box, as in the Ghost Lockets series from last year.
Please contact me at MACUMBISTA at_the_domain GMAIL.COM (or use the contact page) during the coming week of 3-9 December if you are interested in purchasing one of these before 2013! I will be away from my studio from 12 Dec to 13 Jan. Prices range from EUR 50-90, depending on the box used and features included.
I have several styles of antique boxes to choose from (as seen in the first picture in this post), as well as the different added features mentioned. Some of the following boxes may also still be available, as noted. In addition, I can create made-to-order SoundBoxes from antique boxes in my stock at the moment.
All SoundBoxes come with a resonant spring contact microphone.
SET ONE: R.QUIRK COMMISSION
Set of four SoundBoxes, made in cedar cigar boxes and commissioned by Richard Quirk. The top pair includes a backlit 77mm transparent speaker, providing a view to two different antique Danish photographs from approximately the 1930s. The bottom pair uses powerful speakers to increase the physical resonance of the box and microphone. These boxes are SOLD.
SET TWO: SILVERCASES
This set of SoundBoxes are built into a variety of antique cases for jewelry, pens and silverware which have been found in Berlin and Paris. These feature black 92mm speakers and audio-responsive color LED lights. The textures of these cases are incredible, my favorite being the fountain-pen case in the top middle (which uses a minijack plug and 77mm speaker). The fountain-pen case and the box with the diagonal stripe, both pictured in close-up above, are SOLD. Besides those, all the rest of these boxes are available for sale.
SET THREE: LARGE SPEAKERS
In general, the speakers I use are either 92mm or 77mm wide, however occasionally I find large boxes and therefore prefer to use larger speakers. The top box once contained a set of silverware and now contains a set of six “circuit-bending” body contacts, while the bottom box still contains the aroma of tobacco. These are the only large-speaker SoundBoxes I am currently offering for sale. BOTH SOLD!!!!
SET FOUR: 77mm BOXES
These boxes are available for made-to-order SoundBoxes. They are drilled to use a transparent 77mm speaker. The inside of these boxes is lit by an LED, and images or graphics can be placed inside, as seen below in these examples from last year’s collection:
SET FIVE: 92mm BOXES
These boxes are available for made-to-order SoundBoxes. They are drilled to use a black 92mm speaker. I have several of the box in the rear-middle, marked “Pallas”, as seen below:
PAPER OPTIONS
These Japanese chiyogami 70g/m² patterned papers are currently available for decorating the interiors of the SoundBoxes which have transparent speakers. Other options include vintage photography prints, reflective paper (silver, gold), other found objects (bones, shells, reflective materials…) or custom graphics printed from your digital file.
Posted in Documentation on November 18th, 2012 by admin
I recorded these pieces with Jelena Glazova already last Dec/Jan 2011-12, but they sat around for a while as two people with very busy lives tried to decide what to do with them. Thankfully, Jelena took the initiative in selecting and mastering some of the better moments and put them up in her Bandcamp page. Expect heavy slabs of drone with some nonlinear distortion skittering around the edges. I think Track 4 (“15th Session”) shows the best balance of our two different sound worlds. Thanks Jelena!
Derek Holzer vs Jelena Glazova by Derek Holzer and Jelena Glazova (2012)
Jelena Glazova is an artist and a poet based in Riga, Latvia. She is working in the interdisciplinary areas of contemporary art, combining in her works image, poetic text, experimental sound and installation. Experimental music activity field – noise/drone, usually constructed from processed vocals.
Derek Holzer is an American sound artist based in Berlin DE, 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 workshops in noise art technology, across Europe, North America, Brazil and New Zealand.
Getting the computer out of my live sound was the best thing that ever happened to me. When I work with the modular synthesizer, I feel like I have a piece of clay in my hands which I can squeeze in any direction I choose. This short improvisation was made during filming of the documentary “Learning to Listen”, on sound artists in several European cities by London College of Communication students Dann Linn, Marianna Sangita and Andi Spowart.
I’m just back from my Swedish gig, where I spent the weekend gazing longingly at leggy blonds and red farmhouses, slapping mosquitoes, sipping expensive beers and teaching 25 people to build small noise-boxes in the summer sun. Concert went great, with a huge Function One sound system in the gigantic, resonant Mimer mine-shaft hall for that all-over body bass-massage kind of feeling. One of the best parts was that, some weeks ago, I dreamt that two friends from Estonia came to the festival with me. When I wrote them about it, they replied, “Roadtrip sounds like a great idea! See you soon!” So they did.
Big thanks to Sol Andersson and Johannes Ahlberg for the invitation and John Anker Corneliussen for the sound! Also managed to catch a few great sets, most notably by Carl Michael von Hauswolff and the lovely drone duo Kyrkan. Just as awesome, and tasty to boot, was James Brewster‘s Electro-acoustic cafe–a mic’ed up espresso stand with the option for extra delay or wah on your foamed milk.
Interior of the Mimer photos by possan, Derek Holzer live set at Norberg Fest by Rotwang @ 99musik.se
Another great thing was the wide range of folks who dropped by to build these little Neanderthal instuments–people who by and large would never show up at an “experimental noise” gig suddenly discovered the insane, child-like pleasure of making their own noise. A selection of these good people can be seen above. Thony Ekström has posted a 28 minute video of the workshop presentation here. I like the part where the orchestra warms up in the beginning…
I spent quite a bit of July working on this chopper with a student named Alvaro Ayuso. He didn’t quite finish it… a problem if you’re a young Spanish dude with too many friends around I suppose. Synth building is a solitary pursuit. So consider this a work in progress. Good going so far, amigo, now let’s bring it on home!
Tech details: line input, mic input, 2 x line outputs, dual VCA, 2 x VCO, dual VC Slope, Utility LFO, DC Mixer, Steiner VC Filter, Wave Multiplier. All PCBs by Ken Stone/CGS.
And finally… here’s a Serge Power Supply Unit I built for my friend Richard Scott:
Yeah, I guess it’s been a busy month…
Now Playing
old man gloom–no[2012 hydra head] om–advaitic songs[2012 drag city] swans–live at berghain[04 aug 2012 berlin](looking forward!)
The lovely folks at the Norberg Festival in Sweden have arranged for me to do an outdoor SoundBoxes workshop as well as play a concert in the super-echo-chamber mine-shaft-house there.
For the workshop, I will have a tent with some tools and parts set up all day on Thursday 26 & Friday 27 July. The parts kit for the workshop costs SEK 100, and includes all the electronics components, speaker, amplifier, microphone and a cigar box of your choice. Workshop participants will have a chance to perform with their boxes on the afternoon of Saturday 28 July at 13.30.
During the concert on the evening of Saturday 28 July, I will play an improvisation for found objects, speaker box and self-made electronics. Norberg is about the only place I could imagine The Bug sharing a stage with Trevor Wishhart, and I’m looking forward!
Now Playing
deathspell omega–drought[2012 season of mist] keith fullerton whitman–occlusions: real time music for hybrid digital-analogue modular synthesizer[2012 editions mego] ktl–v[2012 editions mego] pauline oliveros–reverberations: tape & electronic music 1961-1970 (12xcd)[2012 important] thomas koner–novaya zemlya[2012 touch]
The MUU Gallery requested info-sheets for each of the instruments I am showing there. A whole weekend of vector-scribbling later, I present these examples of my mad Inkscape skillz as testament to the fact that I probably should get more sunlight this summer…
This box was created from a found children’s karaoke toy specially for the MUU Invisible Time exhibition, Helsinki (FI). It features a voice-changing circuit, condenser microphone and loudspeaker mounted in an antique wooden box, and has been equipped with “bend points” where physical contact with the circuit changes the sound.
1) On/Off Switch
2) Volume Knob
3) Input Jack
4) 9V Power Input: for battery or wall adaptor
5) Speaker
6) Bend Points: touching two of the screws together with your finger can “bend” the sound of the instrument, or flip one of the switches to hold a certain sound
7) Condenser Microphone with Flexible Neck
To Play:
A) Press the On/Off Switch, you will see a small light above the Speaker when the box is activated
B) Speak into the Condenser Microphone
C) Adjust the Volume Knob to lower the level, raise it or create feedback
D) Feedback can be also created by lowering the Microphone nearer to the Speaker
E) Experiment with the Bend Points using either fingers on the screws or the switches
F) If the sound dies out, speak into the microphone again
This instrument is for sale, price EUR 260.
Macumba Benjolin
Derek Holzer
2012
The Benjolin is a circuit designed by Rob Hordijk from the Netherlands. It contains two oscillators (one slow and one fast), a band-pass filter and a circuit Hordijk calls the “Rungler”, which allows chaotic feedback possibilities between the different parts of the circuit. This one has been customized with an old silverware case, a built-in amp and speaker and a patchbay for further chaotic interactions.
1) On/off Switch
2) Inputs: the four left-hand-side jacks are inputs, don’t unplug these. The black connection with the red cable connects to the speaker. The other input jacks connect to different parts of the oscillators.
3) Outputs: the eight right-hand-side jacks are outputs, play with these. The black jack is the output of the filter. The others others are different parts of the oscillators.
4) Volume knob
5) Output jack, for plugging into other SoundBoxes
6) Speaker: this is turned off when something is plugged into the output jack
7) Filter Controls: these will only change the sound when using the black output jack
8) Oscillator Controls: these change the frequency and chaos levels of the oscillators
To Play:
A) Flip the On/Off switch upwards
B) Adjust the Volume Knob
C) Create feedback by plugging the blue cables from the left-hand side into the different output jacks on the right hand side
D) Listen to different parts of the synthesizer connecting the red cable from the black jack on the left-hand side to any of the output jacks on the right-hand side
E) Use the top row of knobs to adjust the two oscillators
F) Use the bottom row of knobs to adjust the filter, and remember you only hear the filter when the red cable is connected to the black output jack
9) The Macumba Benjolin requires two VERY FRESH 9V block batteries to operate properly
This instrument is from the personal collection of the artist. Customizations of many electronic music circuits are available on request.
M79 Super
Derek Holzer
2009
The smallest synthesizer I have ever made, the M79 Super was built during the Piksel Neanderthal Electronics workshop in Bergen (NO). Here, three oscillators, a tiny speaker and two sound-reactive LEDs are placed inside a beautiful, old, palm-sized flashlight from the 1970’s.
1) On/Off Switch
2) Third Oscillator On/Off Switch
3) Oscillator Frequency Control Knobs
4) Output Jack: to connect the M79 Super to larger speakers
5) Very Small Loudspeaker
6) Two Audio-reactive LEDs: one of these displays the waveform of Oscillators 1+2, and the second displays the waveform of Oscillator 3
To Play:
A) Slide down the On/Off Switch located on the side of the object
B) Flip the Third Oscillator On/Off Switch up or down to activate/deactivate Oscillator 3, and notice what effect it has on the sound
C) Adjust the frequencies of the different Oscillators
D) You can make a filter by covering the small Loudspeaker with a cupped hand or your mouth
This instrument is for sale, price EUR 130.
Electric Spring II and III
Derek Holzer
2012
These are simple, resonant drone boxes using the feedback between a simple contact microphone with a coil-spring and the speaker to make rich harmonic sounds or metallic reverb effects. These were created in an edition of three for the Electric Spring Festival in Huddersfield (UK).
1) On/Off Switch
2) Volume Knob
3) Input Jack: other kinds of microphones or instruments could also be connected here
4) Contact Microphone + Spring: this microphone picks up physical vibrations rather than sounds from the air. It has a resonant coil spring attached to it which makes the drone and also can be used as an “antenna” to search for new sounds
5) Speaker
To Play:
A) Turn Volume Knob all the way to the left
B) Place the Contact Microphone across the Speaker
C) Flip the On/Off switch upwards
D) Adjust the Volume Knob until you start to hear a tone
E) Adjust the position of the Contact Microphone + Spring and the Volume Knob to find new sounds
F) You may gently touch the Speaker with the Spring, but please do not press hard or you will damage the Speaker
These instrument are for sale, price EUR 80 each.
SoundBox I
Derek Holzer
2010
This was the first SoundBox instrument I created in 2010. It uses feedback and the physical vibration of the speaker cone to create different kinds of chaotic sounds.
1) On/Off Switch
2) Volume Knob
3) Input Jack: other kinds of microphones or instruments could also be connected here
4) Speaker
5) Contact Microphone: this microphone picks up physical vibrations rather than sounds from the air. It has two “antenna” attached to it to search for new sounds.
To Play:
A) Turn Volume Knob all the way to the left
B) Place the Contact Microphone across the Speaker
C) Flip the On/Off switch upwards
D) Adjust the Volume Knob until you start to hear a tone
E) Adjust the position of the Contact Microphone and the Volume Knob to find new sounds
F) Place some of the found objects provided in the speaker and see how the vibrations move them around and change the sound
This instrument is from the personal collection of the artist, and is used frequently in performance.
SoundBox II
Derek Holzer
2010
The second SoundBox I built, this one remains a bit incomplete–it looks better than it functions. Besides the normal SoundBox microphone/amplifier/speaker feedback loop, this one was intended to have a small synthesizer circuit which would alter the sound as it passed through. This part didn’t work out so well, but I left the controls to remind me that one day I should fix it!
1) On/Off Knob
2) Three Useless Controls
3) Input Jack: for Contact Microphone or other sound sources
4) Speaker
5) Contact Microphone + Spring: this microphone picks up physical vibrations rather than sounds from the air. It has a resonant coil spring attached to it which makes the drone and also can be used as an “antenna” to search for new sounds
To Play:
A) Turn the On/Off Knob clockwise, you will feel a click when the box turns on, but please don’t expect it to control the volume as well!
B) Don’t bother with the Three Useless Controls either, they’re only decorations at this point
C) Adjust the position of the Contact Microphone + Spring to find new sounds
D) You may gently touch the Speaker with the Spring, but please do not press hard or you will damage the Speaker
This instrument is from the personal collection of the artist, and is a work-in-progress.
Derek Holzer: live SoundBox Performance at MUU Gallery, Helsinki 07 June 2012. Video by Rita Leppiniemi.
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.
