I found this super cool collaboration. Between Curator, fluteboxer and illustrator. The projects name is "Totally Wired: Drawing Breath". It is a very interesting project by Curator Annie Bicknell, fluteboxer Nathan Lee and illustrator Steven Appleby. What happens in this performance is that the fluteboxer is hooked up with cables and when he plays the flute curator is able to monitor the body and chest movements and than the illustrator Steven obviously illustrates, he tryes to illustrate the things that he think goes through Nathan's head. This is really cool because its a collaboration between artists and scientists. When Nathan plays flute Annie monitors his heart and my oxygen blood levels through these wires and they put it into machines . Nathan and Steven are two completely different artist and having them work together was an experiment itself. But what made this project work is that they both head appreciation and enthusiam for each other works. Nathan Lee has some interesting music, I dont think I have ever heard of a flute beetboxer, it kind of remindes me of a Flutist from Shrek4:) I think this would be a cool project to do with a big orchestra, although results probably would of been very different because the illustrator would have to try to get in to too many people's head. I was not able to find a lot of information on this project, so I am not sure what else to include in this blog.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUeE0nkEhrE
By Olga Oseth
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Sound Healing
I found 2 different sound projects, both related to sound healing. The concept is that sound frequencies carry the power to alter our structure and truly affect our soul for revitalizing, cleansing, and healing ourselves completely. Think of it like a form of alternative medicine.
The first thing I would like to share is about sound healing in general.
As long as we’re watching John Cage and questioning the definition of music, I would like to share an ancient practice of sound healing. Much like the new emergence of music therapy, this is an art of healing through the vibrational frequencies of music.
Medicine and music are meeting once again to marry art and science. One of the interesting things Darren Hall says is that sound healing is mostly a standard patient/practitioner relationship, BUT it doesn’t have to be! The beautiful thing about it is that anyone can create the sounds. This means that a few friends could get together and play sounds to promote a balancing and healing energy through the vibrations. I’m assuming if you’re reading this, you’re a musician at SCSU. Well, guess what? You’re a doctor too!
There are certain notes that work with the chakras in our bodies. Chakras are like centers of energy and within the body there are 7 that relate to different aspects of our self, such as sense of security, sense of confidence, love, communication, intuition, and overall sense of connectedness. The chakra system is like an Eastern psychology/biology/spirituality all encompassed in one ancient teaching.
So the diatonic scale can be used to open certain blocks in your body, re-balance ourselves, and help us address the problems in our lives. The quartz crystal singing bowls play at a perfect tone, so the idea is that playing them will remind your body of the perfect pitch when we get out of balance.
How can music and compositions open up realms of consciousness? Darren says when we open up the conversation about music, we start to realize the extent that music really touches us emotionally and helps us to dive deeper within ourselves. With one note or one musical composition, he says you can truly change someone’s life, and from a physics point of view, the vibrations do affect our bodies.
Yes, it could be a bit spiritual, but when music provokes an emotion beyond the physical vibration of the air, what else could music be but a spiritual practice?
2. (Last week’s blog)
Living Structures Sound Chamber Dome
This project is a sound chamber called the Living Earth Dome. The group that made it is called Living Earth Structures and they make all kinds of buildings, ovens, hot tubs, and benches all out of natural materials like cob, adobe, clay and bamboo.
One of the creators says “This is going to change the world. We’ll have wellness centers in the future and not just regular [pharmaceutical] medicine.”
This chamber structure is made of bamboo, bent to create a tipi with a rounded top, then the whole solid portion of the wall is made of cob and adobe clay. The acoustics inside the dome are the main feature of the structure, and it is going to be used by a sound healing practitioner and his/her patient.
This sounds more like architecture.. how does it relate to music? The acoustics of the sound chamber are perfect for encapsulating one’s self inside the sound. At 13:13 in the video, you can see them use a quartz crystal singing bowl and their voices. The whole point for sound healing is to focus all intention on the sound, and for this reason it’s important to have complete isolation from other sounds (street noises, dogs barking, etc.). In the same way that an orchestra hall is created to direct sound in the most beautiful way at the audience in the seats, the sound chamber is meant for a small group of people to come together in a tight spacious space to experience fully the healing sounds of the human voice, singing bowls, zen chimes, shaman drumming, or any number of sacred sounds and instruments that have been used since humans first became spiritually “in tune” on this planet.
The first thing I would like to share is about sound healing in general.
As long as we’re watching John Cage and questioning the definition of music, I would like to share an ancient practice of sound healing. Much like the new emergence of music therapy, this is an art of healing through the vibrational frequencies of music.
Medicine and music are meeting once again to marry art and science. One of the interesting things Darren Hall says is that sound healing is mostly a standard patient/practitioner relationship, BUT it doesn’t have to be! The beautiful thing about it is that anyone can create the sounds. This means that a few friends could get together and play sounds to promote a balancing and healing energy through the vibrations. I’m assuming if you’re reading this, you’re a musician at SCSU. Well, guess what? You’re a doctor too!
There are certain notes that work with the chakras in our bodies. Chakras are like centers of energy and within the body there are 7 that relate to different aspects of our self, such as sense of security, sense of confidence, love, communication, intuition, and overall sense of connectedness. The chakra system is like an Eastern psychology/biology/spirituality all encompassed in one ancient teaching.
So the diatonic scale can be used to open certain blocks in your body, re-balance ourselves, and help us address the problems in our lives. The quartz crystal singing bowls play at a perfect tone, so the idea is that playing them will remind your body of the perfect pitch when we get out of balance.
How can music and compositions open up realms of consciousness? Darren says when we open up the conversation about music, we start to realize the extent that music really touches us emotionally and helps us to dive deeper within ourselves. With one note or one musical composition, he says you can truly change someone’s life, and from a physics point of view, the vibrations do affect our bodies.
Yes, it could be a bit spiritual, but when music provokes an emotion beyond the physical vibration of the air, what else could music be but a spiritual practice?
2. (Last week’s blog)
Living Structures Sound Chamber Dome
This project is a sound chamber called the Living Earth Dome. The group that made it is called Living Earth Structures and they make all kinds of buildings, ovens, hot tubs, and benches all out of natural materials like cob, adobe, clay and bamboo.
One of the creators says “This is going to change the world. We’ll have wellness centers in the future and not just regular [pharmaceutical] medicine.”
This chamber structure is made of bamboo, bent to create a tipi with a rounded top, then the whole solid portion of the wall is made of cob and adobe clay. The acoustics inside the dome are the main feature of the structure, and it is going to be used by a sound healing practitioner and his/her patient.
This sounds more like architecture.. how does it relate to music? The acoustics of the sound chamber are perfect for encapsulating one’s self inside the sound. At 13:13 in the video, you can see them use a quartz crystal singing bowl and their voices. The whole point for sound healing is to focus all intention on the sound, and for this reason it’s important to have complete isolation from other sounds (street noises, dogs barking, etc.). In the same way that an orchestra hall is created to direct sound in the most beautiful way at the audience in the seats, the sound chamber is meant for a small group of people to come together in a tight spacious space to experience fully the healing sounds of the human voice, singing bowls, zen chimes, shaman drumming, or any number of sacred sounds and instruments that have been used since humans first became spiritually “in tune” on this planet.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Techno Squirrels
TechnoSquirrels is a Los Angeles based techno collaboration. There are only 2 performers that are in this group. Lisa from Sweden and Ryan who grew up in U.S.A. The 2 artists met in Liverpool, but that is not where techno squirrels started. Ryan hated techno music at first not until he heard the techno music in Liverpool. Lisa was always very interested in audio production and audio sounds. She thought it was an art of putting melody with electronic noise and how they can coexist. Both Lisa and Ryan at the time were working on completely different things, she was into singing he was into computer programming and film editing as a co-founder of Emo Riot Productions. So Lisa moved to LA and that is where the group was emerged. She kept writing new beats and bouncing ideas with Ryan and the reason why they called themselves techno squirrels because everyday working on their project a squirrel would stop by their window. Right now they are located in San Francisco and have released 3 EPs and a full length LP to date, been featured artists on KCRW sounds Eclectic with Nic Garcourt, BBC's Radio 1 and MTV The Real World. They both work not just on words for their songs but also the editing, mixing and creating new beats together even thought Lisa is the only one that sings. I found them on you tube when I typed musica electrica collaboration. I really like their stuff I listened to Love Come's First, Repeat 'Till Fade, Unbelievable and Mute and all their songs are pretty cool. I think they definately do have a specific style to their music. I liked a lot the use of panning that they do in their songs, most of the time when you listen to techno music it kind of feel all on top of each other but spacialization and panning for TechnoSquirrels music is super cool. They are very repetitive but from another side they improv the sections a little bit, I also thing they have some use of dynamics which in music now a days is not heard often, i think more dynamics would be better. They also use a lot of looping in their pieces from what I have heard so far. Here is their link check it out http://www.shejay.net/artistDetail.php?userID=1277
Monday, February 14, 2011
Remnants
By Olga Oseth
I found this awesome collaboration on you tube. Remnants. This is not a well known project. IThe people that are in this collaboration are music/composer Original Musical Scores (from Russia) Danil Malinov,Малинов Данил http://tiny.cc/5en7t
Original Film Production & HD Editing (from Italy) Eduardo Casalini http://tiny.cc/xuu4teqaby
Original Poem & Voice Recital (from U.S.A.) Jo Salmoretti http://tiny.cc/9tcni. This piece is beautiful I think the voice accompanies the softness of music. The music is repetitive but I think it goes well with telling a story about nature and lost story. It is kind of different to hear music with spoken words instead of a song. But I think it is kind of cool because its like a story is being told but not through singing, I think it would be cool to try to put this poem with some awesomely created project in logic. This poem would go really well with echo to make it darker and more mysterious. The composer is from Russia and his music really refers to the traditional genre as I am used to hearing.
I found this awesome collaboration on you tube. Remnants. This is not a well known project. IThe people that are in this collaboration are music/composer Original Musical Scores (from Russia) Danil Malinov,Малинов Данил http://tiny.cc/5en7t
Original Film Production & HD Editing (from Italy) Eduardo Casalini http://tiny.cc/xuu4teqaby
Original Poem & Voice Recital (from U.S.A.) Jo Salmoretti http://tiny.cc/9tcni. This piece is beautiful I think the voice accompanies the softness of music. The music is repetitive but I think it goes well with telling a story about nature and lost story. It is kind of different to hear music with spoken words instead of a song. But I think it is kind of cool because its like a story is being told but not through singing, I think it would be cool to try to put this poem with some awesomely created project in logic. This poem would go really well with echo to make it darker and more mysterious. The composer is from Russia and his music really refers to the traditional genre as I am used to hearing.
Yesterday's hearts once flowed free here
Living out lives, sharing
People places, held so dear
Family, friends, abundant caring
Old walls do speak, you must see
Beyond the darkness and empty space
Listen close that which holds the key
To its history, once full of grace
Time stops for one one, this we know
The sun will rise, the oceans tide
Mortality is given and then lets go
Even hidden among this country side
Remnants of once before
Cob webbed shadows, take in light
Broken stones still mark a door
and the souls that which have taken flight
Dramatic and Desolate, yet beauty remained
Against the blue-grey sky
Its proven existence, still contained
Marks to ponder and ask why
Why this reminder of shattered pieces left behind
It's here to stay, to let it show
Life was once, so call to mind
What shall forever remain in moons glow.
Living out lives, sharing
People places, held so dear
Family, friends, abundant caring
Old walls do speak, you must see
Beyond the darkness and empty space
Listen close that which holds the key
To its history, once full of grace
Time stops for one one, this we know
The sun will rise, the oceans tide
Mortality is given and then lets go
Even hidden among this country side
Remnants of once before
Cob webbed shadows, take in light
Broken stones still mark a door
and the souls that which have taken flight
Dramatic and Desolate, yet beauty remained
Against the blue-grey sky
Its proven existence, still contained
Marks to ponder and ask why
Why this reminder of shattered pieces left behind
It's here to stay, to let it show
Life was once, so call to mind
What shall forever remain in moons glow.
I wasnt able to find more information how this people got together to create this, but I am assuming they are all friends. I thought this was a beautiful piece of work, even though the arrangers are not famous, they did a great job of putting this together. The video was done in Tuscany countrisde, but when I listen to music and words separately it makes me think of Ireland.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Cantus and James Turrell
Sonic Architecture
Behind Walker Arts Center near downtown Minneapolis, a concrete walkway carved into the sloping terrain leads to an amazing space named Sky Pesher, designed by artist James Turrell (born 1943, Pasadena, CA). Once inside, the bunker-like concrete structure directs the observer’s eye to a 16-foot rectangular opening in the ceiling. A heated ledge around the internal circumference invites one to sit, lean back, and contemplate the sky’s ever-changing colors and moods, isolating the visitor from all buildings, trees, and city sounds.
The word “pesher” is Hebrew for “interpretation.” Among the Dead Sea scrolls, Essene scripts have been discovered that isolate each verse of a Torah book, such as Psalms, followed by a written contemplation of the text in order enhance one’s understanding of the passage. Likewise, Turrell invites us to expand our perception of a piece of sky.
Turrell has created a number of such visual experience installations around the country, each with its own unique setting and effect, playing with elements of perceptual psychology and optical illusion. His art spaces suggest a visual realization of Paul Schaeffer’s Reduced Listening theory and l’object sonore (the sonic object). Yes, we know it’s the sky, but once we get past that bit of the obvious and look with new eyes, we’re able to see colors change from pale blue to screaming orange, perceive warmth or coolness, watch white and grey and charcoal shapes undulating in the opening – appreciating the light on a completely different level.
As Turrell writes, “My spaces must be sensitive to events outside themselves. They must bring external events into themselves. I think of my works as being important in terms of what they have to do with us and our relationship to the universe, but not necessarily in scientific terms.”
Cantus is a professional all-male a cappella ensemble heralding from St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN where friends got together in 1995 just for the fun of singing. They have gone on to perform over 400 concerts in the United States and abroad, all to glowing accolades. Cantus performs without a conductor, listening and watching each other with rapt attention to the smallest details of the sound they’re making.
As 2010-2011 artists in residence with Minnesota Public Radio, Cantus has been exploring unusual acoustic spaces around the Minneapolis/St. Paul area in a project called “Sonic Architecture.” Sky Pesher was the perfect place for them to perform, whether it was for a crowd of 50-70 (all that can cram into the space), or just for themselves. In this space, Cantus chose to improvise on a traditional Indian Raga chant, utilizing mouth cavity alterations to create all manner of overtones and acoustic surprises. Cantus’ artistic co-director and baritone, Adam Reinwald, says of the event, “The harmonic overtone style combined with improvised Indian Classical Raga created a very ethereal, almost alien sound, which was a reaction to the austerity and simplicity of the space.”
Combination of the stark coolness of Turrell’s Sky Pesher and Cantus’ encompassing warmth of sound created an experience of enormous depth and spirituality. I invite you to treat yourself to a few moments of awe that this unplanned collaboration offers. http://bcove.me/ac12ut9f
More information on Sky Pesher: http://www.artsconnected.org/resource/120274/five-elements-of-contemporary-art-space-james-turrell-s-sky-pesher-2005/tab/comments
More Cantus Sonic Architecture:
Stairwell at MPR -- http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/12/17/cantus-stairwell/
Wabasha Caves http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/11/30/cantus-caves/
Under the bridge at Lake of the Isles -- http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/11/18/mntoday-cantus-bridge/
Margo Kanthak
MUSM 435 -- Spring 2010
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Animusic
Dave Kent
I stumbled onto this company while browsing youtube. They are called animusic and they create computer animated video albums. They do this by using software of their own design that doubles as both 3D animation software as well as midi sequencing software. This allows them to create animations that can be programmed to trigger midi notes. The result is an animation that seems like it's creating the music rather than reacting to it.
The team is made up of two guys: Wayne Lytle and Dave Crognale. Dave is responsible for the artistic aspects of each piece, mainly the set design. He is responsible for creating all of the instruments in each set. All of the instruments that he comes up with are quite incredible such as a guitar with three necks complete with robot fingers, he also adds pipes onto it to create flute sounds.
Wayne is in charge of the mechanical aspects of each set. He is in charge of figuring out how the instruments created by Dave should move, as well as how all the virtual cameras in each set should move. He is also the one who composes the music using the midi sequencing aspect of their software.
In the end everything is computer generated including the music which is midi. However, thanks to their amazing software you still get a very realistic experience that is both fun to watch and listen to. They currently have two DVDs out and it sounds like they are working on a third.
Here are some pieces they have made:
I stumbled onto this company while browsing youtube. They are called animusic and they create computer animated video albums. They do this by using software of their own design that doubles as both 3D animation software as well as midi sequencing software. This allows them to create animations that can be programmed to trigger midi notes. The result is an animation that seems like it's creating the music rather than reacting to it.
The team is made up of two guys: Wayne Lytle and Dave Crognale. Dave is responsible for the artistic aspects of each piece, mainly the set design. He is responsible for creating all of the instruments in each set. All of the instruments that he comes up with are quite incredible such as a guitar with three necks complete with robot fingers, he also adds pipes onto it to create flute sounds.
Wayne is in charge of the mechanical aspects of each set. He is in charge of figuring out how the instruments created by Dave should move, as well as how all the virtual cameras in each set should move. He is also the one who composes the music using the midi sequencing aspect of their software.
In the end everything is computer generated including the music which is midi. However, thanks to their amazing software you still get a very realistic experience that is both fun to watch and listen to. They currently have two DVDs out and it sounds like they are working on a third.
Here are some pieces they have made:
Monday, February 7, 2011
Social Network- Music and Film
I have not had a chance to check out the movie “The Social Network” but the only reason I care to see it is because I am a huge fan of Trent Reznor (nine inch nails)of which scored the film. I have listened to a few of the soundtracks on YouTube and they remind me of what most of the ghosts album tracks are like. Every track has an image that it has been set to. The music gives the overall impression/feeling of the image. So yea his music works well with visual media.
I found it very cool coming across an interview with the people involved with production of the music for “The Social Network.” It gave some insight on the process they took in the making of the music and the collaboration that came about with the director. The director had Reznor in mind the whole time for the score. He was going for a synthesizer 80’s style mixed with modern scoring technique. I also found it interesting while shooting scenes they immediately were thinking about the music by putting temporary tracks to use as a starting place/idea/general mood.
In this project Reznor also works with Atticus Ross, of which he has been collaborating with since With Teeth (around 2005.) In the interview Reznor tells a little how they work, he free composes a little, and Ross tweaks it and/or arranges it differently, Reznor comes back and says who made this piece? Its cool what two people can come up with, it’s like a synthesis and things can happen in ways that one may never have thought possible. Also on how they worked, they sent mp3’s of the tracks to the director, found where material was placed, got feedback, and rearranged the music as they saw fit. Another challenge they had to overcome was re-imagining “In the hall of the mountain king” (Grieg) in synthesized manner. They ended up pulling it off and it sounds pretty good it... Wendy Carlos… eat your heart out.
This was cool to see a guy work outside his comfortable medium and do something different and successful with other people. I think he won some awards for scoring the film… I’m sure Reznor will be doing more work like this and it should be awesome to see what is next.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpqy_y39-Ac
I found it very cool coming across an interview with the people involved with production of the music for “The Social Network.” It gave some insight on the process they took in the making of the music and the collaboration that came about with the director. The director had Reznor in mind the whole time for the score. He was going for a synthesizer 80’s style mixed with modern scoring technique. I also found it interesting while shooting scenes they immediately were thinking about the music by putting temporary tracks to use as a starting place/idea/general mood.
In this project Reznor also works with Atticus Ross, of which he has been collaborating with since With Teeth (around 2005.) In the interview Reznor tells a little how they work, he free composes a little, and Ross tweaks it and/or arranges it differently, Reznor comes back and says who made this piece? Its cool what two people can come up with, it’s like a synthesis and things can happen in ways that one may never have thought possible. Also on how they worked, they sent mp3’s of the tracks to the director, found where material was placed, got feedback, and rearranged the music as they saw fit. Another challenge they had to overcome was re-imagining “In the hall of the mountain king” (Grieg) in synthesized manner. They ended up pulling it off and it sounds pretty good it... Wendy Carlos… eat your heart out.
This was cool to see a guy work outside his comfortable medium and do something different and successful with other people. I think he won some awards for scoring the film… I’m sure Reznor will be doing more work like this and it should be awesome to see what is next.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpqy_y39-Ac
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Scratch the surface
From Christopher Hobbs reenactment of the Richmond Journey concert, it struck me that the scratch orchestra performed in non-traditional performance space. When doing the initial research it was never brought to my attention that when they performed it was not always in a space I am costumed to seeing a performance in. There is another aspect to the orchestra in which a concert may take all day moving from one space to another while performing different compositions. I must say my excitement about the group just exploded into hysteria. How amazing, especially for the performers. Going on an adventure with a group, experiencing what the composer instructed in their score. Your learning and performing the best way, through live interaction. Hobbs stated how much of an impact the orchestra had on the members even with its short life span. I’m able to understand this impact better through hearing an actual member telling the events. As stated by Christopher Hobbs, “John Cages’s notion that all noises, and all silences, can be music was the underlying inspiration.”
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Tango Mechanique
By Olga Oseth
While searching on google for collaborative works I have found this awesome video of Tango Mechanique http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nEXsjxGGr0. It is by composer Hsiao- Lan Wang. She curently lives right now in Montana. She is Taiwanese composer and conductor living in United states. She collaborated with Daniel Zajicek, who is a composer and video artist. Most interested in beauty and the bizarre, his musical output consists of solo, chamber, choral, electronic, video, and theater music. I really like HLW musical style. I listened to couple of her works Nouveau Park , Tango Mechaniques and Made in...(2008). She has collaborated with other artists for her works. Tango Mechanique at the beginning was like with curtain on the stage and I expected the curtains to open up and have dancers come out but it was different, totally not what I expected. In the visual aspect of it there were a lot of pipes and many digital squares type of thing flowing up and down the screen which I thought was very nicely done. The music was very rhythmical its like there was a story being told without words.
This is a link to the website with more workds by HLW
It is pretty cool check it out!
http://www.hsiaolanwang.com/?page_id=83
The second collaboration between Hsiao-Lan Wang and Daniel Zajicek, Tango Mécanique explores the dance of conflict and compromise between visual and sonic elements. Rich symbolism residing in the images triggers memories and impressions, while the music boasts heightened rhythmic energy that makes you think twice about what you are really seeing on the screen.
Lan Wang composes for orchestra, chamber ensembles, solo instruments, and electronic media. Her music investigates the fundamental elements of musical communication through new timbral, formal, and technological relationships.
I actualy found out that Hsiao- Lan Wang and Daniel Zajicek are married and they do quite a bit of collaborative work together. Daniel Zajicek has some awesome video arts if anyone is interested
http://tri-jack.org/projects/?p=163.
I think Tango Mechanique music has some interesting digital sounds, sometimes it sounds like there is water running through the pipes or maybe if string instruments are bowing super fast, it gives a feel of anxiety building up that all resolves with new motives being played. I like the bell sound at aproximately 2.17 seconds of this piece, at aprox. 5.01 the visual part of this piece is building tension, which goes really well with the music.
While searching on google for collaborative works I have found this awesome video of Tango Mechanique http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nEXsjxGGr0. It is by composer Hsiao- Lan Wang. She curently lives right now in Montana. She is Taiwanese composer and conductor living in United states. She collaborated with Daniel Zajicek, who is a composer and video artist. Most interested in beauty and the bizarre, his musical output consists of solo, chamber, choral, electronic, video, and theater music. I really like HLW musical style. I listened to couple of her works Nouveau Park , Tango Mechaniques and Made in...(2008). She has collaborated with other artists for her works. Tango Mechanique at the beginning was like with curtain on the stage and I expected the curtains to open up and have dancers come out but it was different, totally not what I expected. In the visual aspect of it there were a lot of pipes and many digital squares type of thing flowing up and down the screen which I thought was very nicely done. The music was very rhythmical its like there was a story being told without words.
This is a link to the website with more workds by HLW
It is pretty cool check it out!
http://www.hsiaolanwang.com/?page_id=83
The second collaboration between Hsiao-Lan Wang and Daniel Zajicek, Tango Mécanique explores the dance of conflict and compromise between visual and sonic elements. Rich symbolism residing in the images triggers memories and impressions, while the music boasts heightened rhythmic energy that makes you think twice about what you are really seeing on the screen.
Lan Wang composes for orchestra, chamber ensembles, solo instruments, and electronic media. Her music investigates the fundamental elements of musical communication through new timbral, formal, and technological relationships.
I actualy found out that Hsiao- Lan Wang and Daniel Zajicek are married and they do quite a bit of collaborative work together. Daniel Zajicek has some awesome video arts if anyone is interested
http://tri-jack.org/projects/?p=163.
I think Tango Mechanique music has some interesting digital sounds, sometimes it sounds like there is water running through the pipes or maybe if string instruments are bowing super fast, it gives a feel of anxiety building up that all resolves with new motives being played. I like the bell sound at aproximately 2.17 seconds of this piece, at aprox. 5.01 the visual part of this piece is building tension, which goes really well with the music.
On The Horizon
I understand that our blogs are supposed to be about a collaborative work, but I found this and I thought that it was important enough to share. For 2008, 2009 and 2010 the Gerbode and Hewlett Foundations have been awarding six $75,000 commissions for collaborative artworks. In 2008, grants were awarded for choreographer collaborations, in 2009 they were awarded for playwright collaborations. The winners for the 2010 collaborative commissions were just announced on January 19, 2010 and were for Composer collaborative works.
The work I am specifically excited about is called "Off the Walls" and will premier at San Francisco's de Young museum in 2013. It features Sarah Wilson, who is a trumpeter and composer who has received several awards and grants, and wide acclaim for her recent album "Trapeze Project" which features her on trumpet and vocals with clarinet, bass, piano and percussion.
The dance company selected to work with Sarah Wilson is called "Catch Me Bird" and appropriately enough, are an aerial dance company. Demo Video The de Young museum was chosen because of it's unique architecture and landscape, and "Off the Walls" is to be specifically composed and choreographed for that space, much as Poème Electronique was written for the Philips pavilion in 1958.
There were six recipients of this prestigious award, and all works will be premiered between December 2011 and June 2013.
The work I am specifically excited about is called "Off the Walls" and will premier at San Francisco's de Young museum in 2013. It features Sarah Wilson, who is a trumpeter and composer who has received several awards and grants, and wide acclaim for her recent album "Trapeze Project" which features her on trumpet and vocals with clarinet, bass, piano and percussion.
The dance company selected to work with Sarah Wilson is called "Catch Me Bird" and appropriately enough, are an aerial dance company. Demo Video The de Young museum was chosen because of it's unique architecture and landscape, and "Off the Walls" is to be specifically composed and choreographed for that space, much as Poème Electronique was written for the Philips pavilion in 1958.
There were six recipients of this prestigious award, and all works will be premiered between December 2011 and June 2013.
1958 Brussels World Fair
I was recently reading Dr. Miller's blog at http://www.indabamusic.com/#!/artists_in_residence/scott-miller which specifically has an entry on collaborative works. He referenced the 1958 Brussels World Fair which seemed to me, a very good place to start.Royal Philips electronics had asked famous architect Le Corbusier (1887-1965) to design the Philips pavilion for the World's Fair to be held in Brussels. Le Corbusier ended up designing the visuals inside of the space, and the design of the building (from a sketch of Le Corbusier) and some of the music in the entrance and exit (Concrèt PH) was a man working for him by the name of Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001).
"Suddenly there sprang to my mind, out of the unknown, the notion of an 'Electronic Poem,' " Le Corbusier said later. "A work capable of profoundly affecting the human sensibility by audio-visual means. . . to bring together on the creative level, by means of electronics, speed, number, color, sound, noise, unlimited power." Of course there had to be music; very bold, very special music. "Sounds, noises, unlimited power," Le Corbusier brooded, "a new creation opening all before it. . . . Suddenly I thought of Varese."(http://www.sfsound.org/tape/varese.html)
Edgard Varèse (1883-1965) is known as the "Father of Electronic Music" and is credited with coining the term "organized sound". He composed "Poème Electronique" for the Philips pavilion to accompany images encountered when walking through the structure.About 350 speakers were used in the installation and were used to spatialize the music to correspond with images, location of the audience and to utilize the acoustic of the physical structure itself.
Poème Electronique with images!
More photos of the 1958 Philips pavilion.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Native Inspired: MusicDanceTheatreVisualArtMedia
Gallery Exhibition at Perpich Center for Arts Education
Golden Valley, MN
January 2011
Nothing says collaboration and interrelated media quite like a recent public exhibit at Perpich Center for Arts Education during the month of January 2011. The “Arts High School,” as it is commonly known, draws gifted arts-focused students who, whether musicians, dancers, painters, writers, or media artists, take classes in most every discipline, as well as secondary school academics required by the state of Minnesota.
High school juniors and seniors drew inspiration from the Native American Arts & Culture and American Indian Aesthetics classes that were taught this last fall and winter. At the gallery opening of “Native Inspired” on January 6th, dancers and musicians performed live pieces to complement the visual art works on display. Three of the musicians in the class improvised to "Nanook of the North" and, according to their teacher Tom Kanthak, “We often created ‘stuff’ during the class while I read stories, played music” and such. Media students participated in a video production that introduced the exhibit to the public via their local Patch online news. http://goldenvalley.patch.com/articles/video-native-inspired-gallery-opens-at-arts-high-school-in-golden-valley#photo-4343857 Native American elders were on hand to share their stories and experiences with visitors at intimate table settings. And, of course, there were many interesting, inspiring, and beautiful visual arts pieces to view and ponder. All of these various artistic expressions emerged from the two classes.
The Center of Forever
Emi Hasty
“When award-winning Minnesota author Kent Nerburn spoke to our class earlier this year, he said, ‘Blue is the color of forever.’ These words served as an inspiration for this piece of art. I have been fascinated with Native American history, aesthetics, and culture this fall and winter. I’ve used the class as a catalyst for my own research and I have found inspiration in my discoveries. I’ve realized that when I really pay attention, I see that all my experiences all fit together into a sort of beautiful patchwork puzzle!
In this piece, I am exploring the idea of found objects in creating art. The Native American aesthetic is often defined by the materials used to create functional objects of beauty. I’ve used materials from my home including iris sees from my garden and pushpins from my basement. I look at this as an experiment in visual limitations.
I am extremely grateful for the opportunities and experiences I have been blessed to have had this semester in this class. I want to continue to learn and create art inspired by earth centered traditions and cultures. Mii gwetch!”
A Little Piece of Everything (watercolor)
Taylor Moretter
“I named this because compared to all the native american stuff we learn, we are just a tiny piece of it. there is so much to learn and tom does a great job at teaching us. I love the kiddish style of this drawing. tom has a very easy going way of teaching us. I based this drawing of a painting call ‘as time passes.’ note: this is my first and last time using a typewriter. thank you.”
Native American Aesthetics
Hanna Peterson
“For the pictures I showed in Tom Kanthak’s gallery, I did not focus on Native American culture, but mostly used my own inspiration and connected it with the things that we have discussed and learned. I used different types of printing for an on-looker to not only see my pictures, but feel as if they are there. The pictures are a collection of old photography and new technology that has taken over the media world. One of the pictures is digital and phoshopped and two of them are silver gelin prints that were developed in the darkroom, and one of those is handcolored with oil paings. I have a collaboration of styles to represent that Native American culture is still becoming part of society and should be always recognized.”
Golden Valley, MN
January 2011
Nothing says collaboration and interrelated media quite like a recent public exhibit at Perpich Center for Arts Education during the month of January 2011. The “Arts High School,” as it is commonly known, draws gifted arts-focused students who, whether musicians, dancers, painters, writers, or media artists, take classes in most every discipline, as well as secondary school academics required by the state of Minnesota.
High school juniors and seniors drew inspiration from the Native American Arts & Culture and American Indian Aesthetics classes that were taught this last fall and winter. At the gallery opening of “Native Inspired” on January 6th, dancers and musicians performed live pieces to complement the visual art works on display. Three of the musicians in the class improvised to "Nanook of the North" and, according to their teacher Tom Kanthak, “We often created ‘stuff’ during the class while I read stories, played music” and such. Media students participated in a video production that introduced the exhibit to the public via their local Patch online news. http://goldenvalley.patch.com/articles/video-native-inspired-gallery-opens-at-arts-high-school-in-golden-valley#photo-4343857 Native American elders were on hand to share their stories and experiences with visitors at intimate table settings. And, of course, there were many interesting, inspiring, and beautiful visual arts pieces to view and ponder. All of these various artistic expressions emerged from the two classes.
The Center of Forever
Emi Hasty
“When award-winning Minnesota author Kent Nerburn spoke to our class earlier this year, he said, ‘Blue is the color of forever.’ These words served as an inspiration for this piece of art. I have been fascinated with Native American history, aesthetics, and culture this fall and winter. I’ve used the class as a catalyst for my own research and I have found inspiration in my discoveries. I’ve realized that when I really pay attention, I see that all my experiences all fit together into a sort of beautiful patchwork puzzle!
In this piece, I am exploring the idea of found objects in creating art. The Native American aesthetic is often defined by the materials used to create functional objects of beauty. I’ve used materials from my home including iris sees from my garden and pushpins from my basement. I look at this as an experiment in visual limitations.
I am extremely grateful for the opportunities and experiences I have been blessed to have had this semester in this class. I want to continue to learn and create art inspired by earth centered traditions and cultures. Mii gwetch!”
A Little Piece of Everything (watercolor)
Taylor Moretter
“I named this because compared to all the native american stuff we learn, we are just a tiny piece of it. there is so much to learn and tom does a great job at teaching us. I love the kiddish style of this drawing. tom has a very easy going way of teaching us. I based this drawing of a painting call ‘as time passes.’ note: this is my first and last time using a typewriter. thank you.”
Native American AestheticsHanna Peterson
“For the pictures I showed in Tom Kanthak’s gallery, I did not focus on Native American culture, but mostly used my own inspiration and connected it with the things that we have discussed and learned. I used different types of printing for an on-looker to not only see my pictures, but feel as if they are there. The pictures are a collection of old photography and new technology that has taken over the media world. One of the pictures is digital and phoshopped and two of them are silver gelin prints that were developed in the darkroom, and one of those is handcolored with oil paings. I have a collaboration of styles to represent that Native American culture is still becoming part of society and should be always recognized.”
Duality (charcoal and marker)
Asmaa Bint Abdul-Azeem
“The four directions and the Fibonacci sequence. These are aspects of the way of the world and how it works are really interesting, because I believe even if people have unlocked puzzle pieces of it, there will always be an abundance of mystery. These mysteries are symbolized by declarations of shapes, numbers and images. I used the butterfly because it is a common symbol of transformation and that metaphor is a main theme that I honor. Behind the butterfly is a glyph of the four directions, a major focus in the American Indian aesthetics. My picture is taking non-obvious happenings and manifesting them in a sort of raw expressionist manner.”
To see more about what these amazing kids and teachers are doing, visit http://nacafall2010.wikispaces.com and http://aiafall2010.wikispaces.com/.
Margo Kanthak -- MUSM 435 Spring 2011
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