hack-delays-filters

front of the line

I’ve been working the last couple of weeks mastering a two CD set of improvisations for Innova Records by composer / harpist Anne LeBaron. The CD tracks are taken from a collection of live recordings made throughout the last ten years. Tracks include solo harp improvisations, duos, trios, and quartets. Some of the performers include Anne Lebaron, Leroy Jenkins, Ronit Kirchman, and Kristin Haraldsdottir. Look for the new CD around the end of August.

I wanted to post this short audio track that I created for Viralnet’s 2008 online project called The Lament Project. Here’s a short blurb on the idea of the project:

The Lament Project’ grew from a desire to produce an online work that responds to the personal anxiety and social crisis in our contemporary global culture. We thought that the best way Viralnet.net could cut through the lulling effect of corporate media’s packaging of suffering and conflict, would be in a personal and visceral way, using sound. The lament is one of the world’s oldest musical and poetic forms for expressing sorrow and grief. It is found in both the east and the west; in classical traditions as well as folk traditions. It has evolved over the centuries informing new genres along the way, like the blues. It is a sound that comes from a place deep inside the soul of the individual and reflects a larger collective suffering. It is a universal sound. Even though there are many traditional laments to draw from, Viralnet.net encourages the artists to invent new and personal interpretations of the form and explore the full range of possibilities, spanning the humorous to the serious. Except for the one-minute length requirement, there are no pre-conditions or rules that the artists need to follow in creating their laments.

The Recording
For my lament I asked vocalist Jewl Mosteller to improvise in the recording studio. I selected some of the performance and created a 1 minute piece.

Listen to Lament [1:05 ] [ 320 kbps mp3 ]

This is a photo of  Ulrich Krieger (sax) ,  Stuart Fox (guitar), myself (laptop) and Mark Trayle (laptop) performing Earle Brown’s Four Systems at the Betty Freeman concert at REDCAT. The concert celebrated the legacy of the late philanthropist, photographer and writer Betty Freeman, described as “without question the most significant American advocate for contemporary classical music in the second half of the 20th century”.

Here is the documentation of our STEIM residency that took place in October of 2009.

Check out the STEIM Blog for more photos and text:

Here is a short and somewhat hilarious documentary movie created by Christoph Scherbaum. Christoph was assigned to follow us around a bit and find out what we were up to. One day, we accidentally locked him in the studio while we went for lunch. We felt really bad when we came back after lunch!

CalArts: The ESP Ensemble from STEIM Amsterdam on Vimeo.

Photographs of our performance taken by Frank Balde.

I’m currently in Amsterdam for the last day of a 2 1/2 week residency at STEIM. It has been an amazing trip. The residency is part of an exchange program with STEIM and the CalArts Experimental Sound Practices program. Each year I bring three or four graduate students to STEIM to work on projects. This year we decided to work together on one project which was to create a 30 minute performance as an ensemble. We gave a lecture / concert at STEIM on Wednesday, October 14th which went very well. In preparation for the concert we worked pretty much non-stop in the studio for a week. In addition, the steim instrument builder, Byungjun Kwon, completely rebuilt my wireless glove instrument called Stupid Thing. In addition to updating the electronics he added accelerometer sensors to the gloves for more performance control options. Pictures, audio, and video coming as soon as I received the DVDs! For now enjoy this photo from the Vondel Park:

Attached is a PDF that contains all the parts necessary for building a hydrophone. The parts on the list are from the following companies:

•  Digikey  

•  Pacific Radio and Electronics

•  Do It Best Hardware Center (I go to the one on York Blvd in Highland Park)

One thing to note. There are two type of cables listed for your reference. One is standard microphone cable and the other is a slightly smaller gauge coax video cable. You can use either one.

Hydroparts.pdf

I will be giving a two-part workshop on Hydrophones at the Machine Project Gallery in Echo Park. You can sign up here:

Sunday, August 16th: Part 1 2pm to 4PM

We’ll have hydrophone kits for your enjoyment. Minimal soldering experience required and plus we’ll help you. While constructing our hydrophones we’ll talk about field recording and more specifically about the properties of sound underwater and how hydrophones work. Once you’ve built your hydrophone take it home for a week and make a bunch of recordings.

Sunday, August 23rd: Part 2 1PM to 4PM

Bring your hydrophone, your trusty field recorder (we’ll be able to supply a few to borrow if you don’t have one), and any recordings you have made. Right off the bat we’ll all head to the lake to record what lurks beneath the surface. Then we’ll trek back to Machine and have a listening party. The real fun of making field recordings with a group is listening to everyone’s recordings.

I’ve curated three concerts for the Sea and Space Explorations gallery in Highland Park. The concerts are part of the gallery’s annual Summer Resort events.
Thursdays, 8-10pm, $3 suggested donation
The Resort Sound Series Skronk-a-rama

Aug 13 – Mellownoisedrona , performances by: Scott Cazan; Casey Anderson & John Hastings; & Lewis Keller

Aug 20 – Sea & Space Shanty’s, performances by: Julia Holter; Missincinnati (Jessica Catron, Corey Fogel, and Jeremy Drake); & Laura Steenberge

Aug 27 – Solos, Duets, and Groups, performances by: Albert Ortega; Mark Trayle; STEIM Ensemble (Casey Anderson, David Casey, Clay Chaplin, and Aniela Perry)