My vocoder-based sound installation DELILAH TOO will open at the CTM Festival, in the Kunstraum Bethanien on 23 JAN 2015, and run until 22 FEB.

I am looking for a number of volunteers to speak, read or sing texts in any language you choose, as well as attempt to communicate with installation visitors (hopefully in a language they do understand) during the entire month of the festival. In the spirit of Alvin Lucier’s “North American Time Capsule”, you could consider these texts as transmissions to other beings in space about what life on Earth is like for you…

I hope that a number of people can take one or two one-hour long slots, and I will try to make a small gathering with snacks/drinks sometime during the festival for people who help out.

You can find a short overview of the project here: http://tinyurl.com/delilah-too-ctm-info

Please contact me by email at MACUMBISTA at the domain GMAIL dot COM with the subject line “volunteer” and I will send more information and a link to the sign-up sheet.

Many thanks!!!! D.

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.

I will be the general assistant for this upcoming hacklab/workshop scenario at CTM.13 in Berlin. It’s a very interesting bunch of characters involved, and the application process just started. So send some shit in!

MusicMakers Hacklab @ CTM.13 – “Indeterminism Machines”
Submission Deadline: 11.1.2013
Hacklab Runs: 29.1 – 1.2.2013

We don’t want to just talk about the future: we want to invent our own Golden Age. The MusicMakers Hacklab at CTM.13 will be an open, collaborative environment in which participants can learn about new technologies and get their hands on making their own musical inventions. It’s a space in which people can build a rapid prototype of anything they imagine, creating new ideas around music making and creation, from composition to performance and DJing.

We’re inviting people across media to encourage collaboration: musicians, developers, artists, designers, people working in skills like sound and music, but also code, fashion, visuals, and industrial design and craft.

Throughout the week, we’ll welcome artist and developer presentations from Keith Fullerton Whitman, Imogen Heap, Lucas Abela, Tim Exile, Ali Demirel, Native Instruments, Ableton, and others to be announced. Participants will share hands-on skill sessions on topics like physical computing and custom controllers, wearable technology and fashion, live visuals, Pure Data/libpd, Max for Live, Reaktor, OpenSoundControl, Quartz Composer, Processing, and more.

PARTICIPANT INFO

Selected participants who have proposed a project idea will be named official Hacklab Fellows and be provided with:

* A free CTM Festival Pass;
* Highlighted profile on CTM and createdigitalmusic.com websites;
* The chance to show your finished work at the live showcase at Berghain Kantine on 1 Feb, as part of the CTM.13 program.

In that spirit of sharing and community, the Hacklab will be open to walk-ins from both hackers and the general public.

HOW TO APPLY

To be part of the Hacklab Fellows program, please submit:

* A 150-word description of the project you’d like to execute;
* A 100-word bio;
* If you’d like, send us any images, sketches, videos, or websites you’d like to help us promote your participation and see what’s inside your head. (optional)

Remember that you can include an idea about collaboration in your proposal – some Hacklab participants might want to join in your project.

Send your submission (and any questions/comments) to: musicmakers(at)ctm-festival.de by 11.1.2013.

Presented with createdigitalmusic.com in collaboration with SemiDomesticated and CTM
Curated by Peter Kirn
General Assistant: Derek Holzer

Direct link: http://www.ctm-festival.de/news/current-news/news/article//call-for-works-sign-up-for-the-musicmakers-hacklab-ctm13.html

[Macumbista modular at CTM Touch night via CTM Fest Twitter]

I had the chance to rescue an artist whose work I appreciate immensely last night at the CTM Festival, when his gear ended up in Tel Aviv instead of Berlin. I knew I kept this heavy metal monster around for some reason….

All in all, it was a wonderful festival. Personal highlights include Chris Salter’s Just Noticeable Difference installation, Anke Eckhardt’s Between You and Me, Supersilent + Stian Westerhus vs Joshua Light Show, two works and a talk by one of my hugest inspirations Eliane Radigue and of course the entire Touch Spire closing evening program.

Big thanks to CTM organizers and artists for an awesome week!

Regenwald 2011 was coordinated by DEREK HOLZER [US/DE] and MADS BECH PALUSZEWSKI[DK] for Club Transmediale 28 Jan – 05 Feb 2011. The players were DIANA COMBO [PT], ALAN GLEESON [IR], LARS LUNDEHAVE HANSEN [DK], DEREK HOLZER [US/DE], MACDARA Ó MAOLBHUAIDH [IR], JOÃO MIGUEL PAIS [PT], PETER VOTAVA [AT], CHRISTIAN ZOLLNER [AT]. Photos by Mads.

Now Playing

bohren and der club of gore–beileid ep[2011 ipecac]
chief commander ebenezer obey & his international bros.-miliki sound[1973 decca]
expo 70–death voyage[2010 dead pilot]
john macedo–chaotic analog synthesis #1[2011 the black plume][thx john!]
moussa doumbia–keleya: malian funk of the 1970s[2006 oriki]
various artists–brass pins & match heads: international 78s[2011 mississippi]
various artists–ivory coast soul: afro funk & soul in abidjan 1972-82[2010 hot casa]
various artists–those shocking shaking days: indonesian funk 1970-78[2010 now-again]

Yes indeed I have been traveling and working almost nonstop since the start of the Year. A quick rundown of my activities:

09-15 Jan 2011 – Mechanical Sound Instruments workshop, TAIK University of Art and Design, Helsinki FI

Workshop = awesome! Design students built Arduino-powered electro-acoustic instruments like this one below. I’ll be editing video docs I made in Helsinki soon.

Electro-Acoustic Musical Instrument from Palash on Vimeo.

Hotel room = passable. Töölö Towers is the University’s home for wandering academics, with a very institutional vibe, spotty wifi coverage and full length mirrors for me to shoot very serious-looking self portraits in…

18-21 Jan 2011 – Tuned City: sound+space workshop, Estonian Academy of Arts Media Dept, Tallinn EE

Workshop = 5.5 out of 10. I’m still figuring out what kind of tools are necessary to crack the shells of the Estonian oysters. After some prodding, most of the students really gave their best in making and discussing the recordings. One girl Facebooked and texted the entire workshop until I pointed out that her computer was “broken” and she’d be better off at home.

Hotel = decent. Maneezi house, guestrooms of the Estonian Arts Academy, has everything you would ever want in a post-Soviet flat…a long flight of stairs, some heavy metal doors, a warm radiator and even running water.

01-05 Feb 2011 — Regenwald2011 workshop+installation, West Germany/Club Transmediale, Berlin DE

Workshop = mostly good. Trying to wrangle seven very different artistic personalities into one piece in only five days is never easy. I have decided that giving them less freedom rather than more is the only solution. The audience response to the piece, on the other hand, was quite positive and enthusiastic.

Hotel = not applicable. One of the longest stretches I’ve been able to sleep in my own bed in ages!!!

07-11 Feb 2011 – Field Recording workshop, Royal Music Conservatory, Aarhus DK

Workshop = one of the best! Very high level of capabilities by these composition students at the Electronic Music department there. I gave them one hour to take three random one-minute field recordings from their neighbor and make a short piece out of them, and they all pulled it off! And that was only one of the exercises. If only every group I taught had their shit so together.

Hotel = comical. The Cabinn is a concept hotel, they told me. As near as I can figure, the concept was to make the hotel room itself as much like the sleeping couchette on an overnight train as possible.

A few weeks later I saw an exhibition of living/working spaces by French-Israeli artist Absalon at the KW Berlin. Made to the measure of his own body, and likely inspired by the fact that most of the artist’s short life was spent in the Israeli military, the constructions impressed me as the ideal prototype of future dehumanizing architecture for the 21st Century.

12-14 Feb 2011 – Tuned City:sound+space, Estonian Academy of Arts Architecture Dept, Tallinn EE

Workshop: another five and a half. The concept here was to teach architects to experience urban space through sound, and this worked pretty well. The students brought in recordings of various spaces around Tallinn for us to listen to and analyze. My mistake was in giving them “homework” for the last day. Despite assurances from everyone that they had time and energy to do it, only two came back the next day.

Also during this week I braved the -25C weather to investigate some locations for next summer’s Tuned City event, such as the lobby of the Linnahall, a disused auditorium/ice rink constructed for the 1980 Olympic games.

Hotel: deceptively posh. Somehow I was taken in by the spacious rooms, tall windows, tacky wallpaper and inoffensive framed prints of the Old Town Maestro. Until I realized that the strip-club-disco downstairs wouldn’t stop the party until 7am.

23-27 Feb 2011 – Neanderthal Electronics, NK Project, Berlin DE

Workshop = can I call this an 8? What should have been a warm homecoming was dampened by some kind of breakdown in publicity. The three guys that did show up for the workshop kicked some serious ass though, and made really nice boxes which they played the following Monday for the Experimontag at Madame Claude. Photos and such soon.

Hotel = forget it! I locked the door to my flat and stayed in bed for three whole days when all this was over.

Now Playing

ben frost–live at berghain, berlin 24.02.11
earth–angels of darkness, demons of light I[2011 southern lord]
eleh–radiant intervals[2011 important]
flower travellin’ band–anywhere[1970 philips]
tim hecker–ravedeath 1972[2011 kranky]

Regenwald2011 at Club Transmediale from macumbista on Vimeo.

By Derek Holzer & Mads Bech Paluszewski

Regenwald 2011 was a contemporary re-interpretation of David Tudor’s series of compositions from the 1970’s entitled “Rainforest”. It used different types of sonic transducers to play sounds through a series of resonant metal objects suspended in the space. Additionally, two 8×8 matrix mixers allowed the sound from any of the objects or performers to be sent to any other node in the network, making the whole piece an experiment in generative chaos.

Regenwald 2011 was developed prior to the festival in a workshop format over a period of five days. The opening night presentation featured a live session with the system,
while the installation running during the week employed recordings made with the system. The audience was free to move around the performance space, engage in conversations and explore the sonic objects, thus adding new life to the rainforest.

Regenwald 2011 was coordinated by Derek Holzer and Mads Bech Paluszewski, and was a joint production of CTM.11 and Tuned City / DOCK e.V.

The Players:
DIANA COMBO [PT]
ALAN GLEESON [IR]
LARS LUNDEHAVE HANSEN [DK]
DEREK HOLZER [US/DE]
MACDARA Ó MAOLBHUAIDH [IR]
JOÃO MIGUEL PAIS [PT]
PETER VOTAVA [AT]
CHRISTIAN ZOLLNER [AT]

With Thanks To:

Robert Dahlke, Jan Rolf, Carsten Stabenow, Oliver Stabenow, West Germany

Regenwald 2011: a workshop/installation/performance in the spirit of David Tudor

with Derek Holzer (USA/DE) & Mads Bech Paluszewski (DK)

*Overview*

Regenwald 2011 is a contemporary re-interpretation of David Tudor’s series of compositions from the 1970′s entitled “Rainforest”. It uses various types of sonic transducers to play live sounds through various resonant objects in the performance space, as well as through architectural features of the space itself. Additionally, an 8×8 matrix mixer allows the sound from any of the objects to be sent to any of the performers, making the whole piece an experiment in generative chaos.

Regenwald 2011 will be developed in a workshop format with up to 8 participants over a period of several days. The resulting work should shift between relatively static installation-like moments and performative sections where the artists seek new relationships with the objects and each other. The audience is free to move around the performance space, engage in conversations and explore the resonant objects, thus adding new life to the rainforest.

A opening night presentation will introduce the concept of Regenwald 2011 and the context of “Schematic as Score” as seen in the works of both David Tudor and John Cage.

*Documentation*

A rough schematic of a previous transducer system (Regenskog 2010) can be seen here:
http://macumbista.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/regnskog_notext.png

Documentation of Regenskog 2010 can be found here:
http://macumbista.net/?p=1840

*Dates*

28 January – 01 February, 12:00-19:00 daily: Regenwald 2011 workshop in West Germany, Kottbusser Tor, Berlin

01 February 21:00 opening Regenwald 2011 presentation/performance, West Germany, Kottbusser Tor, Berlin

02 February – 05 February 18-22:00 daily: Regenwald 2011 installation, West Germany, Kottbusser Tor, Berlin

*Participate*

The Regenwald 2011 workshop is open for 8 participants who will be selected and notified on or before 16 January 2011. There is no fee to participate. Applying participants should be:

–Comfortable working in a collaborative environment
–Knowledgeable in the basics of acoustics
–Proficient in one or more chosen analog or digital sound instruments and/or systems for working with sound
–Capable of bringing any equipment they require beyond the basics of the transducer system (instruments, mixers, computers, etc etc)

Please send an email to regenwald2011@clubtransmediale.de by 12 January with the following information:

–Name, location and short bio (max 100 words)
–Short statement of interest (max 300 words)
–Short description of your chosen instrument or system (max 300 words)
–Links to audio/video documentation of one solo work and one collaborative work you have made

*Workshop Leaders*

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 workshops in noise art technology, across Europe, North America, Brazil and New Zealand.
http://www.macumbista.net

Danish sound artist and cultural producer Mads Bech Paluszewski (1977) works with circuit bending, sound installations, tactile acoustics and performances from his Copenhagen base. Solo and as a member of several groups of experimental audio/visual music and performance groups, he has performed at many Nordic music and sound art festivals. He has also held several workshops in circuit bending and user driven sound installations in Denmark.

*Partners*

Regenwald is a join production of DISK/Club Transmediale and Tuned City/DOCK e.V.
http://www.clubtransmediale.de
http://www.tunedcity.net

Hypnotized by the unfolding synchronicities of [The User]‘s Coincidence Engine One: Universal People’s Republic Time, at the Transmediale Festival 2010 (Collegium Hungaricum Berlin). Inspired by György Ligeti’s Poème Symphonique For 100 Metronomes, the work features hundreds of cheap plastic clocks, each with its own imperfect little heart. Seconds come like a light rain, and minutes like brief hailstorms. Photo by Elena Kaludova.

This piece reminds me of another, Ligeti-inspired work which I helped Helsinki-based composer Libero Mureddi realize using Pure Data in 2006. Déploration pour la mort de G. L. is a rhythmical canon with 88 voices for Disklavier. Each key plays a constant tempo, the lowest being 40 bpm, with a 0.3 bpm increase per key, starting from low A.

The effect of this piece on the player piano is that dynamic ripples and reflections are created up and down the keyboard as keys move in and out of phase with each other. I think Libero was as startled as I was when we “performed” it for the first time during the Pd workshop!

Video by Egle Oddo.

Now Playing

Lars von Trier–Antichirst[2009 film] (fucking wow!)

Newsflash: I’ll be taking part in the Tuned City panel discussion at Club Transmediale next Friday with Carsten Stabenow, John Grzinich and Sam Auinger. FRI 05.02. 19:00, HBC-Berlin.

Besides that, here’s my scorecard for the upcoming Transmediale/Club Transmediale events this week. Accept my advice at your own risk…

TRANSMEDIALE EXHIBITION

Haus der Kulturen der Welt, 2-7 Feb

White Noise–Žilvinas Kempinas: floating bands of unspooled video tape

Optofonica Capsule–TeZ: unique viewing and listening environment for synaesthtic works

A Parallel Image–Gebhard Sengmüller: speculative media archaeology

Chernobyl Project – The Invisible Stain–Alice Miceli: photographing the lingering radiation

Artvertiser–Julian Oliver: playful urban intervention to replace public advertising with artworks

Coincidence Engines–[The User]: homage to Ligeti from the creators of the Symphony for Dot Matrix Printers and the Silophone (Transmediale award nominee)

OTHER EXHIBITIONS

Agnes Meyer-Brandis–Cloud Core Scanner: Inside the Tropospheric Laboratory: Schering Stiftung Berlin, Unter den Linden 32-34 15 Jan-27 Feb 11:00-16:00

Julius von Bismarck & Benjamin Maus–Perpetual Storytelling Apparatus: Gallerie Art Claims Impulse, Lübbener Str. 5, 20 Jan – 13 Mar, Wed–Sat, 16:00 – 21:00

ESEMPLASTICISM: THE TRUTH IS A COMPROMISE
Exhibition curated by Hicham Khalidi, produced by Den Haag art space <TAG>.  CLUB TRANSMEDIALE: Spandauer Strasse 2, 30/01 – 06/02, 15–21:00

UDK PULSE LAB: FLÄCHEN UND LINIEN
Exhibition with works by students of the Sound Studies program of the Berlin University of Arts, curated by Professor Robert Henke. CLUB TRANSMEDIALE: Spandauer Strasse 2, 30/01 – 06/02, 15–21:00

WORKSHOPS

radio aporee ::: sound/tracks
Workshop by Udo Noll [DE] 31/01–02/02 > CLUB TRANSMEDIALE .HBC > 14–18:00

Spectroscopy
Constructivist DIY workshop series, by NK, Martin Kuentz & Jo FRGMNT Grys [DE] 01–06/02 CLUB TRANSMEDIALE > SPA > 14–21:00

PERFORMANCES, PANELS & SCREENINGS

SUN 31 JAN

ARCHITONE – YOKOMONO PRO CLUB TRANSMEDIALE: Großer Stern / Siegessäule 15:00
Yokomono-Pro (Staalplaat Soundsystem, Ilpo Väisänen, Mika Vainio)

ENSTATIR SUNGHIFE CLUB TRANSMEDIALE: WMF Floor 1 22:00
Keiji Haino (JP)

MON 1.2.2010

OUTPUT STATIC CLUB TRANSMEDIALE: WMF Floor 1 22:00
Keiji Haino  / Ilpo Väisänen / Mika Vainio (JP / FI)

TUES 2 FEB

Charlemagne Palestine (US) –Tintinnabulations For Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Charlemagne Palestine: a concert for the outdoor carillon tower in the Tiergarten from a composer who needs no introduction (TRANSMEDIALE, Tue, 2.2.2010 – 19:00-20:00 Tiergarten carillon, next to the House of World Cultures)

WEDS 3 FEB

Interface and Instrument-Design – How Technology Affects Music–Takuro Mizuta Lippit [JP] / Robert Henke [DE] / Yutaka Makino [JP] / Christopher Salter [CA/US] / Moderation: Tony Herrington [UK] (CLUB TRANSMEDIALE 19:00 HBC)

Pe Lang–cl_loop: audio improvisation based on the manipulation of an electromagnetic field (TRANSMEDIALE, Wed, 3.2.2010 – 22:00, Haus der Kulturen der Welt)

MONADIC ZERO CLUB TRANSMEDIALE: WMF Floor 1 22:00
OM (US)
Habsyll (FR)
Hildur Gudnadottir (IS)

THURS 4 FEB

artificiel–POWEr: audiovisual performance for Tesla coil (Thu, 4.2.2010 – 20:30, Haus der Kulturen der Welt)

EXTENDED ECLECTICS CLUB TRANSMEDIALE: WMF Floor 2 – STEIM 22:00
Alex Nowitz (DE)
dj sniff (JP)
Justin Bennett (NL)
Tok Tek (NL)

FRI 5 FEB

Presentation: See This Sound: Sound–Image Relations in Art and Media Sandra Naumann [DE] / Dieter Daniels [DE] (CLUB TRANSMEDIALE HBC 18:00)

19:00 Talk: “Put Your Ear on the Wall – Tuned City: Platform for Examinations in the Field Between Architecture and Sound“, Carsten Stabenow (DE), John Grzinich (US/EE), Sam Auinger (AT/DE), Derek Holzer (US/DE) (CLUB TRANSMEDIALE HBC)

Studies in Light and Space screening
Studies in Transfalumination, Peter Rose, us 2008, 5min
Black Rain, Semiconductor, uk 2009, 3min
The Moon Goose Experiment, Agnes Meyer-Brandis, de 2008, 5min
Ascension (Woschosdenije), Pavel Medvedev, ru 2008, 50min
(TRANSMEDIALE, Fri, 5.2.2010 – 18:30-20:30, Haus der Kulturen der Welt)

Charlemagne Palestine–SPECTRAL CONTINUUM BERLIN 2010–CLUB TRANSMEDIALE, FRANZÖSISCHER DOM, Gendarmenmarkt 20:00

SAT 6 FEB

“Spectroscopy” – Open Studio Installation: Sound art lab NK, Jo FRGMNT Grys, Martin Kuentz and the participants of the “Spectroscopy” workshop invite visitors into their scientific laboratory of experimentation and present the various devices conceived and constructed during the workshop days. (CLUB TRANSMEDIALE SPANDAUER STRASSE 2 15:00 – 21:00)

Agnes Meyer-Brandis–Making Clouds or On the Abscence of Weight: Sophiensaele 18:30

radio aporee ::: sound/tracks: Presentation by Udo Noll [DE], John Grzinich [US/EE] and participants. (CLUB TRANSMEDIALE HBC 19:00)

Spectroscopy II: Presentation and Performance by Jo FRGMNT Grys [DE], Martin Kuentz [DE] and participants. (CLUB TRANSMEDIALE HBC 20:00)

RASTER.NOTON.UNUN CLUB TRANSMEDIALE: WMF Floor 2 – in collaboration with Raster-Noton and transmediale 22:00
Atom TM (DE)
Aoki Takamasa (JP)
Senking (DE)
Grischa Lichtenberger (DE)
Ulf Eriksson (SE)

SUN 7.2.2010

Invisible Cities Salon–Verena Kuni (de), Julian Oliver (nz), Martin Howse (uk), Oswald Berthold (de), Danja Vasiliev (de/ru), Bengt Sjölén (se), Julius von Bismarck (de) TRANSMEDIALE Sun, 7.2.2010 – 12:00 House of World Cultures

MYTHS OF THE NEAR FUTURE CLUB TRANSMEDIALE: HKW Auditorium – in collaboration with transmediale 22:00
eARTS Shanghai Showcase
FM3_Zhang (CN)
Xu Wenkai (AKA Aaaijiao, CN)
Feng Mengbo (CN)
Ben Huang (CN)

MON 8 FEB

Ulver: DISK/CTM: Volksbuhne 20:00