As part of the Lange Nacht der Bilder Lichtenberg 2014, Juan Carlos Duarte, Darsha Hewitt, and I will host an open studio from 20-00h on Friday 07 NOV 2014 at the Atelier Macumba.

Drop by to try out several of the SoundBoxes, Benjolins and custom modular synthesizer systems I have built, and sip a little fine bourbon while you are at it!

The instruments:

http://macumbista.net/?page_id=4035

Live sets by Seth Zahn + Matthew Burnett, Juan Duarte and Derek Holzer, a demo of the Wurlitzer Sideman tube drum machine by Darsha Hewitt, a live Benjolin+snaredrum set by Andi Stecher, and a very reasonably-priced selection of 10 American whiskeys for your tasting pleasure by Pure of Taste the Doom/Slowlands fame.

There will be many other exhibitions, events and open studios going on that night as well here, see full program here:

http://www.hb55.de/lange-nacht-der-bilder-2014

Atelier Macumba, Room 2.31, Eingang B, HB55 Kunstfabrik Herzbergstrasse 55 Berlin-Lichtenberg.

I am proud to announce my participation as musician in the Markus Öhrn/Nya Rampen/Institutet production “Bis Zum Tod”, premiering at the Volksbuhne in Berlin 20/21 September 2014.

http://www.volksbuehne-berlin.de/praxis/bis_zum_tod/?id_datum=8050

We will tour this production to Poznan (3/4 October), Malmö (7/8 November) and Helsinki (14/15 November).

Pictured: Linus Öhrn and Anders Carlsson

Photo: Christian Kleiner

Please join me in inaugurating the “Atelier Macumba”, my new working space for the construction of handmade sound devices in the HB55 Kunstfabrik in Berlin-Lichtenberg, Friday 29 August 2014 starting 20:00.

There will be a handful of sound toys to play with, and possibly also a few short live sets and random duos by myself, Juan Duarte, Seth Zahn, Andi Stecher and various other kind folks I know, all on our glorious mono PA system. Details to follow.

BringYourOwnBooze. If you’re all very good, I might cook chili…

Herzbergstrasse 55, Berlin-Lichtenberg, Second floor, entrance B.

Google map: http://goo.gl/maps/UW1Go

Please RSVP if you plan to attend by email, and contact me for my mobile number if needed.

Derek Holzer (USA 1972) – “White Elephants” – solo performance for self-made analog synthesizers, speaker box, found objects and room. Approx 30 minutes. http://macumbista.net/

Concert for the exhibition: Franziska Frey – dimensional
SAT, 19. JUL 2014 — 20:00

galerie weisser elefant
10117 Berlin – Auguststraße 21
Tu – Sa 13–19:00
Tel. (030) 28 88 44 54

mail@galerieweisserelefant.de
http://www.frey-raum.de/

I have two presentations in the CTM Festival in Berlin next week, one during the MusicMakers HackLab Conversations alongside such luminaries as Marije Baalman and Robert Henke, and the other during the Education Networking Day. Details below. Hope to see y’all there!

MUSICMAKERS HACKLAB CONVERSATIONS
Weds 29 Jan at Kunstquartier Projektraum
15h // Probing the Past: A Media Archaeology of Handmade Electronic Sound
Derek Holzer/Macumbista.net

The utopias of electronic sound have hardly changed in its hundred-year history. We still want to imitate existing instruments, create sounds which have never been heard before and realize complex compositions without the need of an orchestra. It is only the tools which have become more complex. But there are dystopias as well, which come especially from using tools designed around other people’s way of creating sound, rather than your own. Instrument builder, teacher and performer Derek Holzer of Macumbista.net will discuss the inspiration of some of the pioneers of 20th Century electronic sound (including those found in the “Generation Z: ReNoise” exhibition) as springboards to some of his own creations, which the audience will have a chance to explore following the talk.

SLIDESHOW HERE

EDUCATION NETWORKING DAY
Sat 01 Feb at HAU 3
13:10 Neanderthal Electronics: Teaching Arts and Technology
Derek Holzer [USA/DE, macumbista.net]

Over the last six years I have developed a workshop program designed to teach art students without in-depth technical backgrounds about basic electronics and instrument building, which has been hosted by several, mainly Nordic schools of art, music and design. During this talk, I will share some observations about the relationship of arts and technology in education resulting from these workshops.

Derek Holzer and Seth Zahn play “Animals (for two analog modular systems)”

“Time Lapse” event, Berlin Art Week, Altes Finanzamt
Schönstedtstraße 7 – EG Neukölln 12043 Berlin
U7 Rathaus Neukölln (Exit Schönstedtstraße)
Sat 21 September 2013 20:00

Think less Pink Floyd’s pigs on the wing, and more what you might hear if you could amplify the kind of animals seen under a microscope. A live improvisation, built up from scratch on Serge and DIY analog modular synthesizers and played at high volume by two performers with nothing to lose. Derek Holzer is an American sound artist and instrument builder who has made Berlin his home for several years, while Seth Zahn is a more recent transplant to this city’s experimental scene from Brazil.

http://macumbista.net/
http://soundcloud.com/macumbista
http://soundcloud.com/dragns

Also playing:

Oscar Palou
and
Robert Rosshoff

Live internet radio from NK Projekt Berlin, starts 20:00 CEST, Weds 31 July. The show will also be archived on the radi0n website.

“Several years ago, I abandoned the digital sound world to spend (quite a bit of) time building a modular analog synthesizer based on the forms and functions of the legendary Serge and Buchla systems from the 1960s and 70s. In performance, 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.”
–Derek Holzer

http://radio0n.wordpress.com/

My apologies for those that couldn’t connect to the stream… no one told me it was limited to 10 people until too late! I have uploaded the two live sets and interviews as an edited MP3, total 59 minutes: http://tinyurl.com/mqlm3uc

This will be up until 08 August. Enjoy!

I have been invited to give a lecture on optical sound synthesis as well as perform the TONEWHEELS live set as part of the Eye for an Ear Festival in Berlin later this month. There are quite a few other amazing people involved in this, namely Andrei Smirnov, whose recent book “Sound in Z: Experiments In Sound And Electronic Music In Early 20th Century Russia” is one of the best things I’ve read in the last year.

Full details should be available on the NK website soon, and those of you with FaceBook can access the event page here.

LECTURE

“A Brief History of Optical Synthesis”, a lecture by Derek Holzer, Wed June 26th 21:00 at NK Projekt Berlin

The technology of direct optical synthesis arose with the first sound-on-film motion pictures. In the 1930’s, several designs for optical synthesizers were produced in the USSR, Germany and United States, with a handful even being commercially realized to great amount of techno-utopian hype. The future of sound, we were assured, was made of light.

However, the use of optical synthesis for electronic music creation was largely abandoned after the Second World War in favor of techniques derived from new military technologies which made the V2 rocket and the atomic bomb possible. Thus, contemporary research into optical sound synthesis represents a media-archaeology of “the road not taken”, that of a connection to the culture of film and music versus the science of destruction and death.

PERFORMANCE

TONEWHEELS (Derek Holzer: sounds, electronics), Friday June 28th 20:00 at NK Projekt Berlin

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.

SOUNDBOXES WORKSHOP with DEREK HOLZER @ NK PROJEKT (BERLIN)

Saturday May 11 2013, 14:00-18:00
Sunday May 12 2013, 14:00-18:00

Discover the hidden sonic qualities of objects from our everyday world in this one day workshop, combining the arts of electronics, noise, sculpture and collage. The basic elements of this workshop are a wooden box, a speaker, a small audio amplifier, and a contact microphone. To this, brave box-builders will add their own found objects, graphics, images, memories and ideas to create a unique electroacoustic cabinet of curiosities.

No previous electronics experience is necessary for this workshop. Each participant is required to bring several items to the workshop, please see below.

WHAT TO BRING:

I will provide most of the tools and materials necessary for constructing the box, however there are a few things you should bring yourself:

1) A BOX: This should be made of thin wood or very strong cardboard. Plastic can be also used, but it doesn’t sound very good. And please, no metal! It is too difficult to cut and drill with the tools we will have. This box should be a minimum of 10x10x4cm, or bigger if you want to use a larger speaker or have more room to decorate and add objects. Cigar boxes, small suitcases, instrument cases or jewelry/silverware boxes are all good things to look for. At least one side of the box should be no more than 5mm thick, to allow the hardware to be mounted.

2) A SPEAKER (OPTIONAL): I will have a selection of speakers for participants to use. However, if you have something special please bring it along, but please make sure it fits in the box you have chosen!

3) FOUND OBJECTS: Please bring as many found objects as you can to decorate your soundbox or use as a sound source via the contact microphone. Bones, shells, small sticks, bells, strings, wires, springs (especially!) or anything else made out of solid yet resonant material make great sound sources. Photographs, cloth, leather, paper or any other kind of material can be useful for covering the box and making collages. Paint, markers and pens may also be useful.

FURTHER INFO:

You can see videos and photos from previous SoundBoxes workshops here:

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

You can see all posts related to SoundBoxes, including ones I have made for sale recently, here:

http://macumbista.net/?tag=soundboxes

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:

Derek Holzer (1972) is an American sound artist based 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 workshops in noise art technology, across Europe, North America, Brazil and New Zealand.

http://macumbista.net/

BASIC INFO:

Fee: EUR 30 (participation) + EUR 10 (materials)

Registration is required and can be done by sending an email to info@nkprojekt.de with the subject line “SoundBoxes”. This is a one day workshop, please indicate which day (SAT or SUN) you would like to attend when making your reservation.

Number of Participants: Minimum 6/Maximum 12

LOCATION:

NK Projekt
Elsenstr. 52 2HH 2Etage
12059 Berlin
+49(0)17620626386

[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