The Ultrasound Festival organizers took special tour of Hungary, covering for a week the country’s most marginalized people. They visited the market Devecser, and afterwards the Bicske refugee camp.

Click the image to visit the page with the video You should probably let the video load completely before playing, it’s rather slow outside Hungary.

Direct link:
http://index.hu/video/2010/09/18/zajzene_a_menekulttaborban/

Now Playing

thomas ankersmit–live in utrecht[2010 ash international](dank je wel thomas!)

REGNSKOG

Bergen Kjøtt, Bergen NO, October 11-17 2010

REGNSKOG: a Collaborative Workshop/Performance/Installation in the Spirit of David Tudor
Produced by Piksel.no

INTRODUCTION: HANDS DIRTY ART

Over the past few years, a strong reaction against the sterile world of laptop sound and video has inspired a new interest in analog processes, or “hands dirty” art in the words of practitioner John Richards. With this renewed analog interest comes a fresh exploration of the pioneers of the electronic arts during the pre-digital era of the 1960s and 1970s. Artists and inventors such as Nam June Paik, Steina & Woody Vasulka, Don Buchla, Serge Tcherepnin, Dan Sandin and David Tudor all constructed their own unique instruments long before similar tools became commercially available or freely downloadable–and often through a long, rigorous process of self-education in electronics.

DAVID TUDOR’S RAINFOREST

David Tudor, in particular, has become the focus of intense interest (c.f. Leonardo Music Journal 14, 2004). His transformation from John Cage’s concert pianist to an electronic performer and autodidact engineer in his own right is archetypal for the contemporary media artist, who also must oscillate between the creative and the learning processes. His work Rainforest also stands out as an exemplary model of the collaborative process within a technically defined, yet socially open system.

Rainforest used a series of transducers to play prerecorded and live sounds through various resonant metal objects suspended by wires in the performance space. It was also conceived as a workshop, involving different musicians and artists in a collaborative setting, each contributing their own sounds, ideas and energies to the performances, which often lasted four or five hours! A complex mixer system allowed the sounds coming from one resonant object to be directed through another, spawning chaotic generations of new sound patterns. The sounds played could be heard through loudspeakers as well as the objects themselves, however they could also be physically felt by touching the objects. Tudor was especially interested in two audiences: children and the blind.

REGNSKOG

Regnskog is conceived as a contemporary re-interpretation of Rainforest as a workshop, performance and public installation. In the spirit of Tudor’s work, much of the equipment and materials will be built by the participants/performers themselves.

PARTICIPANTS

Harald Fetveit, Oslo
Signe Lidèn, Bergen
Ryan Jordan, London
Derek Holzer, Berlin
Julien Ottavi, Nantes
John Hegre, Bergen
Jørgen Træen, Bergen
Gisle Frøysland, Bergen

Now Playing

bitchin bajas–tones & zones lp[2010 important]
burn–burn 7″[1990 revelation]
chen santa maria–chen santa maria[2008 gssd/shit on]
drudkh–handful of stars[2010 season of mist]
eleh–repose[2010 touch]
j.d. emmanuel–wizards[1982/2010 important]
prince rama–shadow temple[2010 paw tracks]
seijiro murayama–4 pieces with a snare drum[2010 petit label]

Freshly made this evening for tomorrow’s journey to Hungary and the sound workshops that will happen there–the speaker box that is, not the little blue noise-synth, which was made in Norway last year. The reference to my Norwegian brother down South, Tore “Origami” Boe and his Acoustic Laptops is obvious. Testing with a contact mic and a distortion pedal produced amazingly rich and textured feedback possibilities!

Speaking of Boe, here’s a video from the workshop I invited him to do in Berlin in the summer of 2009 as part of the summercampworkstation project. Enjoy…

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]

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!)

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]

Images from the Neanderthal Electronics workshop at Ptarmigan, Helsinki, 13-15 March 2010. Thanks to John W. Fail of Ptarmigan and Antti Ahonen of Pixelache for putting the whole thing together, and for KOELSE for making some noise at the presentation as well.

Photos by Antti Ahonen.

Images from a Pure Data + Arduino motor & sensor workshop I taught for students of the Media Lab at TAIK (Taideteollinen korkeakoulu/University of Art and Design) Helsinki, 8-12 March 2010. Thanks to Antti Ikonen for inviting me!

Photos by Liisa Tervinen

(Video stills from previous workshops in Bergen and Belfast)

Pikselache, Ptarmigan and Koelse have cooperated to present the Neanderthal Electronics workshop at Ptarmigan in Helsinki, 13-15 March 2010. On the last evening, Monday 15 March, the workshop participants will present their new instruments. I’ll also be playing a solo set for the Macumbista Mini along with sets by members of the Association of experimental electronics / kokeellisen elektroniikan seura (Koelse).

Ptarmigan is located at Nilsiänkatu 10, in the Vallila area of Helsinki. The workshop begins at noon each day and goes late. The concert will be at 20:00 on Monday 15 March. There might be a couple places left for this, contact info (at) ptarmigan.fi to check.

Info for the participants

Each participant is encouraged to find their own unique container, enclosure or interface to put their circuit inside of. An ideal enclosure is one which is both visually interesting and has some functional or performative aspects. You will have the chance to add sensors, switches, buttons and knobs to your enclosure, or perhaps some other, unforeseen method of control. Past workshops have seen synthesizers made from film cans, coconuts, children’s toys, super 8 cameras, cigar boxes, knaackebrod, books and hand-sewn masks. The choice is yours, but please try to locate one (or more) objects before the start of the workshop.

A few links to get your minds moving:

Neanderthal Electronics videos
Yoshi Akai
Gijs Gieskes
Arius Blaze
Ben Houston
Ciat-Lonbarde

For the promising young socialite…

I will actually be in HEL the week before as well, doing a David Tudor’s Rainforest-inspired Pure Data/physical computing workshop at the Media Lab Helsinki. Feel free to get in touch if you want to meet someplace where the drinks don’t cost EUR 10 and I don’t have to spend an equal amount to “check my coat”…