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.

Solstice SoundBox 30/30

This box has been retained as an artist’s proof.

Contact: macumbista AT_THE_DOMAIN gmail DOT com

[Image: block diagram of the Triadex Muse, from “Musical Applications of Microprocessors”, 2nd Edition, Hal Chamberlin (1987)]

The deadline for applications for the next Migrating Art Academies titled “Aesthetic – Responsibility – Drones” (2-7 May 2013, Berlin) is still a couple weeks away. We will select a few European participants to be sponsored with travel, accommodation and per diem.

Find info on MIGAA here: http://www.migaa.eu/aesthetic-responsibility-drones/

Info on my electronics workshop follows.

Autonomous Sonic Agents Workshop with Derek Holzer

In sonic terms, a “drone” can be considered an ongoing process which acts of its own accord. While this is commonly thought of as a steady tone or chord, much of my own work involves the creation of more complex, autonomous agents responsible for various parts of an audio composition. In this workshop, we will investigate different methods, involving loudspeakers, feedback and simple 9-Volt electronics, for creating such generative, self-playing sound systems. Each participant will construct their own primitive noise synthesizer, which they will present on the final day of the workshop. Please bring some type of wooden (preferred–cigar boxes are perfect!) or plastic enclosure to hold your circuit as well as any kind of speaker you can salvage from toys, radios, portable stereos or hi-fi systems.

Info/inspiration:

http://macumbista.net/?page_id=497
http://macumbista.net/?page_id=1187
http://macumbista.net/?page_id=1897

Derek Holzer-ExperiMontag set-11.03.13(edit)

Solo performance for self-made analog synthesizer, speaker box, found objects and room @ ExperiMontag (Madame Claude), Berlin, 11 MAR 2013. Edited and mixed to be played at maximum volume.

Maulex [DK] turntables, textures
Jelena Glazova [LV] voices, drones
Derek Holzer [USA/DE] modulars, rooms

Mon, 11.03.13 21:00
Madame Claude Berlin, Lübbener Straße 19, 10997 Berlin, Germany

An evening of experimental instruments and deep sound textures at one of Berlin’s best-known nights for adventurous music.

-=Maulex=-

René Middelhede is a graduate student at DIEM (Danish Institute for Electro-Acoustic Music) and is working with drone and abstract textural music under the artist name Maulex.

It’s not music that flows rapidly from room to room, rather it moves slowly across the room and fills it with microscopic nuances that constantly change color.

The concert is based on an alternative use of the turntable as a medium. It is developed into an instrument by which complex textures and repetitive rhythms can be generated.

www.phloq.dk | www.soundcloud.com/maulex

-=Jelena Glazova=-

Sound artist/visual artist and poet based in Riga, Latvia. Working in 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.

www.jelena-glazova.com | jelenaglazova.bandcamp.com

Jelena will perform with the visuals by Latvian video artist Zane Raudina.

www.zaneraudina.net

-=Derek Holzer=-

Solo performance for self-made analog synthesizer, speaker box, found objects and room.

Derek Holzer (1972) 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.

macumbista.net

Experimental Sound Instruments Workshop, TAIK MediaLab Helsinki from macumbista on Vimeo.

Students from my Experimental Sound Instruments workshop demonstrate their hand-made projects on the final day. Their instruments involved a variety of technologies, including Arduinos, solenoids, motors, transducers, pickups and amplifiers which I presented over the week. This workshop, which I give at the school annually, ran from 04-08 February 2013 at the TAIK MediaLab in Helsinki, Finland. The students presenting were Johanna Storm, Ari-Pekka Leinonen, Scott McGregor, Saku Kamarainen, Ana Gutierrez, Thomas Svedstrom and Rajeev Siewnath.

My next MLab workshop should be in Oct/Nov.

[Image: Triadex Muse block diagram]

I will be giving a 2-3 day, hands-on workshop on building semi-autonomous, autopoetic sound circuits (likely based on simple CMOS/shift-register constructions) as part of the upcoming Migrating Art Academies event at the Weissensee Art Academy Berlin.

The theme of this event, curated by my friend Mindaugas Gapsevicius among others, is Aesthetic – Responsibility – Drones, and it will take place 2-7th of May 2013, at the Kunsthalle am Hamburger Platz, Weissensee Art Academy Berlin. The public events are free, however participants will be selected from an open call. Invited participants will be granted travel/accommodation costs.

Students and artists from the Nordic/Baltic region are especially encouraged to apply… (you know who you are!). The registration form is here, and the deadline is March 31st.

Live set for analog synthesizer, speaker box, found objects and room, 09 Feb 2013, Kodu Bar, Tallinn Estonia. Photos by Terje Toomistu.

Live set for analog synthesizer, speaker box, found objects and room, 07 Feb 2013, Vapaan Taiteen Tila, Helsinki Finland. Photos by Antti Ahonen.

In the rush of CTM Fest and my annual Mechanical Sound Orchestra Workshop at TAIK (04-08 Feb 2013), I realized I completely forgot to post announcements of these two rather informal gigs here. Let’s hear it for my Facebook page, at least…

Thanks to Jukka Hautamäki, Ilpo Heikkinen, Lauri Hyvärinen, Taneli Viitahuhta, Ilia Belorukov, Antti Ahonen, John W. Fail, Marika Agu, Timo Toots and Terje Toomistu for their support in the various aspects of playing and documenting these two performances.

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Next week I will be assisting Peter Kirn/CreateDigitalMusic with the Music Makers Hacklab at the CTM Festival, at the Kunstquartier Projektraum (Bethanien), Mariannenplatz 2 10997 Berlin.

We have an incredibly diverse range of speakers two or three times a day and competely open to the public, including Keith Fullerton Whitman, Imogen Heap, Lucas Abela, Mark Fell, Demdike Stare, Tim Exile, Ali Demirel, Native Instruments, Ableton Live and others.

Our team of Hacklab fellows, selected from a massive amount of submissions with what I could modestly say were a mind-boggling array of potential projects, will be Darsha Hewitt, Arvid Jense, Karl O’Keeffe, Tommi Koskinen, Sebastian Arnold, Servando Barreiro, Diana Combo, Oliver Greshcke, Jem the Misfit, Rainer Kohlberger, Jacob Sikker Remin, Afroditi, Christoph Mann and Jasmine Guffond.

We are open from 12:00-20:00 daily from Monday 28 Jan until Friday 01 Feb, with a public presentation of Hacklab projects from 16:00 on Friday 01 Feb. Hope to see you there!

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(Bread-burning synth photo by Terje Toomistu)

I will be playing a live improvisation for DIY analog modular synthesizer next Friday at O’Tannenbaum, along with bareth/stadler (Florinn Bareth–e-violin, Max Stadler–electronics) and Nicolas Humbert.

Info

Several years ago, I largely abandoned the digital sound world to spend time building a modular analog synthesizer which reinterprets and hybridizes the forms and functions of the legendary Serge and Buchla systems from the 1960s and 70s. During my improvisational performances, I summon the chaotic, generative powers of this machine to explore the physical affects of volume, frequency and complexity within a given space. For fans of Maryanne Amacher, Bernard Parmegiani, Eliane Radigue and Slayer.

Friday 18 Jan 2013, 21:0
O’Tannenbaum
Sonnenallee 27
Berlin 12047
Germany

This morning I sat in the Marfa Public Radio studio with Rachel Lindley and talked about my Learning to Listen workshop. Rachel was fantastic, she really has The Voice and from the one-paragraph press release, she asked the most intelligent questions that just about any journalist has ever asked me. I really feel like this interview gives a comprehensive overview of how I present the concept of the soundscape in a workshop situation.

You can listen to the whole interview (approx 30 min) at:

http://marfapublicradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/130107-Derek-Holzer-LONG.mp3

The workshop itself at the Marfa Book Company went extremely well, with at least 25 folks both nights. In the usual style, I played several field recordings from various corners of the globe, and together we figured out what kind of of information–both subjective and objective–we can learn from a recorded or composed soundscape. Thanks especially to Tim Johnson for hosting this experience.

I will play a set for modular synthesizer, locally found objects and SoundBox, at the Michael Strogoff gallery, 124 E. El Paso St, Marfa, Texas at 8PM on Wednesday 09 Jan. Y’alls are welcome!

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