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Cut & Splice Competition

Cut and Splice, the UK’s premier annual festival of radical electronic music and sound art, brings the Acousmonium to London for the first time in its 30 year history. Sonic Arts Network, BBC Radio 3 and the ICA provide a rare chance for audiences and artists alike to experience this performance machine first hand. The festival presents some of the leading international names in current experimental electronic music performing alongside the great figures of the GRM.

Line-up includes Christian Zanési, John Wall, Carl Michael von Hausswolff, Zbigniew Karkowski, Michel Chion, Hecker, Hans Joachim Roedelius, Elaine Radigue François Bayle, Philip Jeck, Russell Haswell, Apartment House, ReR and The Lappetites (Kaffe Matthews, AGF and Ryoko Kuwajima).

For your chance to win two tickets to the opening night of Cut and Splice, answer this question and email it to David Rogerson, at david@sonicartsnetwork.org:

How many septuagenarians are performing at this year's Cut & Splice festival?

The tickets will give you access to the concert, featuring Christian Zanési and John Wall, plus an invitation to the launch party and an opportunity to meet most of the artists involved in the festival. The winner will be picked at random and the competition closes Tuesday 2 May, 2006 at 11am. Please only enter if you can make the event.

To book tickets for Cut and Splice:

Weekend pass: £25
Friday: £10
Saturday: £12
Sunday: £12

ICA, The Mall, London SW1
Tickets & Box Office Information: 020 7930 3647

 

SAN Commission:
Christian Calon's Atlas

Christian Calon's new project 'Atlas' is a sound spatialisation project composed of five correlated pieces, with each piece having a duration of around 20 minutes. The first part of Atlas is the Sonic Arts Network - commissioned 'North'. The piece was developed at SARC, Belfast, where Calon was artist in residence and the piece will be presented in concert at the Sonorities festival this Saturday, 29 April.
http://www.sarc.qub.ac.uk/

 

Sonic Arts Network Annual Report 2005

The Sonic Arts Network Annual Report 2005 is now available to download in PDF format here:

www.sonicartsnetwork.org/AnnualReport05.pdf

Alterantively you can contact David Rogerson at david@sonicartsnetwork.org or 0207 928 7337 for a printed copy of the report.

 

  



26 April
Kim Cascone: Composing Emergent Sound Art Using Simple Genetic Algorithms
(lecture)
Ian Gulland Lecture Theatre, Goldsmiths, New Cross, London
Internationally acclaimed sound artist Kim Cascone discusses using genetic algorithms to provide a framework for group collaboration in the production of sound art.
http://subsol.c3.hu

26-30 April
Triptych
(festival)
Edinburgh, Glasgow & Aberdeen
Freeform festival across three cities featuring over 100 artists, including the legendary Odetta plus Aphex Twin, Kieran Hebden (Four Tet), Sonic Boom amongst many others.
http://www.triptychfestival.com/

29 April
Threshold Live
(concert)
E:vent, 96 Teesdale Street, London
An evening of sonic art, electronic music and media art collaborations. Featuring Janek Schaefer, Maix Mayer & Scanner, Klaus Janek & Matt Wade, Slub with Dave Griffiths and The Sancho Plan.
http://eventnetwork.org.uk

29 April
Two Thousand + SIX
(symposium)
SARC/Belfast, Multimedia Suite
A one-day symposium on performance and technology at the Sonic Arts Research Centre (SARC) in Belfast. Line-up includes Fred Frith, Chris Cutler, Anthony Braxton, Gareth Davis, Stephen Östersjö, Elisabeth Smalt, Bob Gilmore, Carlos Zingaro, Adriana Sá, Rafael Toral, Telectu, Richard Barrett, Paul Obermeyer, Atau Tanaka, Eric Lyon, The Ulster Orchestra amongst many others.
www.sarc.qub.ac.uk/pages/2006

30 April
Christian Sebille / Matthew Bourne / Christophe de Bezenac
(concert)
Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall, Cavendish Road, University of Leeds
Christian Sebille (real-time computer - MAX/MSP), Christophe de Bezenac (saxophone) and Matthew Bourne (piano) present a three-way exposition of musical structures through real-time composition.

2 to 14 May
Circuit Blasting
(installation)
The Foundry, 84 Great Eastern St, London
Strange Attractor vs. Disinformation present Circuit Blasting (a technique for producing random electronic music) as an electromagnetic sound installation in The Foundry strong rooms.
http://www.strangeattractor.co.uk

3-20 May
BURST
(festival)
Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill, London
Festival covering gigs, exhibitions, theatre and more. Featuring the Bohman Brothers, curating an evening of improvised and experimental music and the launch of new record label, musicBrut, which will give a platform to musicians who work on the margins of musical culture. Also included is Audioshaker - a tactile container that will capture, shake up and pour out sounds and Sonic History by Joe Bell, an aural account of the life and times of the BAC building in its many historical incarnations.
www.bac.org.uk

5 - 27 May
Pulse
(festival)
Various, London
Pulse 2006 aims to promote the best of Central European culture from Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. The festival features a varied selection of artists performing jazz, world, alternative, dance and classical music.
ww.pulsefestival.net/2005

8-29 May
John Wynne: 215 Unwanted Speakers
(installation)
Hull Art Lab, 53 Humber Street, Hull
Sound artist John Wynne will make use of 215 discarded (but working) hi-fi speakers he has collected in London and Berlin to create a site-specific installation at Hull Art Lab.
www.hullartlab.org

9 May
..things visible and invisible..
(concert)
Performance Area, Department of Music, City University, London
City University present their 28th Electroacoustic Concert Series and explore all things video and acousmatic. Featuring Gordon Delap and Antonin de Bemels, Laurie Radford, Louis Dufort and Natasha Barrett.
www.city.ac.uk/concerts

12 May
The Listening Project
(performance)
Slade Research Centre, Woburn
An experimental sound art project curated by Yuu Takehisa and Dale Berning, centring around ideas of listening to place and space in sound. Experimental musicians and sound artists Tetsuya Umeda, Takahiro Kawaguchi, Duncan Whitley and Dale Berning have been invited to do a 10-day residency followed by a live event of performance, improv, and playback of field recordings.
daleberning@gmail.com

27 & 28 May
Sound Junction IV
(concert)
The University Of Sheffield Drama Studio, Sheffield
Latest installment of the Sound Junction Series rom the University of Sheffield Sound Studios. Featuring Chetan Pancholi, James Cross, Simon Mulvaney and Adrian Moore plus special guests Pete Stollery and Schaefferian pioneer Beatriz Ferreyra.
http://www.shef.ac.uk/usss/concerts
     


Work Experience - 2 Studio Assistants

Point Blank Music College are currently looking for two assistants with both DJ and Music Production skills to work at our Hoxton premises.

Applicants must have technical knowledge of Apple Mac and/or PC computers and have a basic understanding of either Cubase SX or Logic Pro 7 software. Duties include assisting tutors, booking student practice times and cleaning. You will need to be highly organised, motivated and a "team player" and be available to work 2 to 3 days a week from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm week days.

Please send CV's and a covering letter to mailto:jobs@pointblanklondon.com

Jules Brookes
Managing Director
Point Blank
23-28 Penn St
Hoxton
London
N1 5DL

Tel: + 44 (0) 207 729 4884
Email: jules@pointblankagency.org
Web: http://www.pointblankagency.org


Digital Artist's Residency @ ICA

The ICA is looking for a digital/media artist or small collective working in either a visual, on-line, 'live-digital' practice or installation field to take up residency for a period to be determined from 1 June 2006.

The selected artist(s) will give at least two public talks and two education workshops, and will have access to the equipment and facilities of the new Digital Lab for a maximum of two weekdays from 10am and at weekends, from 12 noon.

The work will then be exhibited or performed in either the digital studio or theatre (depending on the work).

To apply: Send a one-page outline of proposed work including any special requirements either technical or logistical plus clarification of how the project will be completed within the agreed period. Also send a CV of previous work, experience, credentials and web links.

All applications should be sent to: vivienneg@ica.org.uk

Deadline for applications: 5pm on 28 April 2006.

Fee to be determined by the length of residency.

http://www.ica.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=14783


Freelance sonic artist

Creative Room are looking for a Freelance sonic artist May - Septmeber 2006

Do you have the skills and experience to facilitate high quality arts workshops for young people, particularly those at risk of exclusion?

Do you have the confidence to successfully engage and motivate young people in an exciting sci-art project?

Creative Room Nottingham City Council's Youth Services Arts Programme, is seeking a professional and experienced sonic artist to facilitate workshops with young people between May and September 2006. Our exciting project is called message sent? and involves partnerships with Queens Medical Centre and Arts & Technology Partnerships. Working with a sculptural artist and an arts & technology artist, you will be leading workshops with young people, experimenting with ideas that stem from the project summary culminating in a public exhibition/installation.

Professional Artists will be expected to:

- Plan and facilitate a successful and exciting workshop programme which supports the aims of the message sent? project
- Work in partnership with our two other artists and partners
- Facilitate high quality youth led creative workshops (in the chosen professional art form) for young people
- Lead, motivate and engage a diverse (and perhaps challenging) group of young people between the ages of 15 and 19 with confidence and expertise
- Lead workshops with the support of youth workers and partner organisations
- Provide guidance and support for young people to exhibit/perform their work as part of a public event
- Support Creative Room's and NCC Youth Service's objectives
- Fully contribute to the planning, monitoring and evaluation of the project between May and September 2006

Experience / requirements

- Artist must demonstrate at least 1 years experience of working with young people, delivering arts workshops (preferably outside of formal education - although not essential)
- Successful candidates must be self employed and provide Nottingham City Council with a unique tax reference number
- Successful candidates must complete an advanced CRB (Criminal records) police check, prior to an offer of contract

Fee
Artist s full contract is £2600.00, based on £150 per day session or £75 per 3 hour session and £10 per/hour for partnership meetings

*This fee includes artists travel costs, planning and workshop evaluation time, though some partnership meetings will be covered on top.

Hours

17 days @ £150.00 per full day workshop
5 hrs partnership meetings @ £10.00 per/hour

Workshops will take place:
Two days between 30th May and 1st June.
Two days a week between 24th July and 27th August
Five day week between 28th August and 1st September
Two final exhibitions in September - set up and support throughout the exhibitions will be expected
Artists are expected to be available for all agreed workshop dates and also be prepared/flexible for occasional unforeseen changes.

Location of workshops

Workshops will mostly take place in the studio at College St, though some will also take place at Arts & Technology Partnerships Loughborough, at Queens Medical Centre and perhaps on location depending how the project develops.

Application process

Please submit your CV, a sample of your work as a practicing artist and a covering letter demonstrating your experience of working with young people and how you believe you have the skills to fulfil the project aims to:

Shula Harris
Arts Development Worker
Creative Room
Nottingham City Council Youth Service
Isabella Street
Nottingham
NG1 6AT

Sorry but on this occasion Creative Room cannot accept emailed applications. Please mark all correspondence with Message Sent? sonic/sound artist opportunity

Application Deadline

5pm Thursday 27th April 2006

Interview Date

Wednesday 10th May 2006

 

Course in Max/Msp and Group Improvisation

It runs on Saturdays from 29th April till 27th May and consists of 5 sessions.

Max/Msp will be taught in the mornings and group improvisation in the afternoon. These two activities will be completely inter-linked.

Max/Msp
The Max part of the course focuses on the teaching of a powerful architecture within which diverse projects can be articulated. This architecture is based on OSC (open sound control) and can be used across networks and with other software packages. One of the main features of this architecture is that it allows the easy creation and modification of a range of mapping strategies. (Mapping concerns the relationships between different elements of a piece ie gesture sound, or time generative process).

This area is something which is very hard to learn from the tutorials that come with Max, and is an essential part of any stable system.

The course will look in detail at one particular use of this architecture: a group improvisation system.

This improvisation system is the basis of the afternoon part of the course - an experiential one which explores group electroacoustic improvistion.

Group improvisation

A key concept in group improvisation is mutual awareness and mutual engagement. In these classes this is the main priority, and helps to decide how instruments are designed, and the ways in which they generate sound.

A design currently being used is based on a Ouija board around which 4 performers sit. A video camera captures the hand movements of performers as they pass through individual and group areas, controlling a quadraphonic sound space.

This model will be elaborated and discussed in the Max classes. Also discussed will be the relation of this model to other electroacoustic genres such as acousmatic music, acoustic ecology, and instrumental music. The group instrument will be supplemented by smaller discrete individual instruments built by you during the course.

Where and When and How much

The course takes place at the Mary Ward centre, a beautiful old building near Kings Cross in London, with an excellent Cafe. It occurs on 5 Saturdays (29th April till 27th May) from 10:30 am till 4:30 pm. It costs £70 or £22 concs for the whole course. (Please check final details with the Mary Ward Centre.)

Booking can be made through the Mary Ward Centre:

The Mary Ward Centre
42 Queen Square
London WC1N 3AQ

arts@marywardcentre.ac.uk
http://www.marywardcentre.ac.uk/courses/Music/

Interfaces available include the Icube, a blackboard sized touch sensitive screen. game controllers , keyboard, video. Hardware 2 Macintosh computers and 5 Windows PCs. Please bring your laptop if you have one.

Thomas Gardner is a composer and teacher. He teaches Max at Birmingham Conservatoire, University of Brighton and City University.

 

University of Sheffield Summer Schools

The University of Sheffield Sound Studios is pleased to announce two summer schools focusing upon the composition and performance of electroacoustic music.

School A and B follow the same programme of events. The course team comprises: Adrian Moore (composition and performance), Dave Moore (MSP) and James Mooney (composition and performance)

*School A: Two weekends: 8th/9th July + 15th/16th July (4 days)
*School B: Weekdays: Tuesday 11th - Friday 14th July (4 days)

Extended deadline April 21st.

See http://www.shef.ac.uk/usss/summer_school


RealiSE Live

Major new commissioning scheme and New Producers Network launched to give the opportunity for an innovative new music project to be created, developed and performed by three key arts organisations in the South East.

Deadline for applications Friday 28 April 2021
Winner to be announced June 2006
World premiere performances Spring 2007

Application packs can be downloaded from the www.realiSElive.com from February 1st 2006

Oxford Contemporary Music, Turner Sims Concert Hall and South Hill Park are launching an exciting new initiative for a new music project to be commissioned, developed and performed in Oxford, Southampton and Bracknell. The RealiSE Live scheme, supported by Arts Council England, is offering professional musicians the chance to have a new work funded and presented by the New Producers Network, a consortium of three major music promoters in the South East of England set up to support the production of new music commissions outside of the London area. The New Producers Network are keen to hear from both new and established artists, based in the UK or abroad, with high quality and innovative ideas for creating a new work that will capture the imagination of their audiences and stretch the possibilities for each venue. RealiSE Live is a major new opportunity for artists and producers to develop alongside each other, supporting the creative process and creating a significant new work that will tour three major venues in the South East in spring 2007.

RealiSE Live invites ideas for new work which

- is an original piece of music (existing work will not be considered)
- is of the highest quality
- is an innovative new work in jazz, folk, electronica or any field of music
- has the potential to capture the imagination of the venue audiences
- stretches the ability of the performers but also each venue
- is able to tour three different venues of varying scale and technical requirements

RealiSE Live welcomes submissions from individual artists, collectives, agents and managers. The artist/composer must be prepared to work closely with the New Producers Network to realise their project.

The New Producers Network and what they do:

OCM. Oxford Contemporary Music has been building a reputation for its high quality and innovative programme for over a decade. Using a whole range of venues in the city, OCM currently stages around 30 contemporary music events per year including many commissions and premieres. The scale of the venues OCM uses goes from the Café under Modern Art Oxford which houses 100 people to the Oxford Playhouse which houses 600.

South Hill Park, Bracknell, is one of the South East s most vibrant and adventurous arts centres, with a programme of international festivals, new commissions and premiers across the art-forms involving theatre, circus, visual arts and music in a multi-purpose venue with 7 or more different possible spaces.

Turner Sims Concert Hall, Southampton is one of the major music venues in the South of England. Offering stunning natural acoustics, Turner Sims presents an annual programme of prestigious music events in a wide range of genres with emphasis on classical music, contemporary jazz, world music and folk.

For further press information please contact:
National press: Maija Handover / mhpr 020 7377 2831, maija@mhpr.co.uk
Regional press: Satu Teppo / mhpr 020 7377 2529, satu@mhpr.co.uk
www.mhpr.co.uk


 


Hafler Trio
Seven Hours Sleep

Korm Plastics

The latest release in Korm Plastics’ ongoing series of Hafler Trio re-issues is ‘Seven Hours Sleep’.

Originally released as a 2 EP set (with accompanying booklet) by Laylah Records 1985, this re-issue restores the original artwork (by Ben Ponton of zoviet france) and sleeve notes absent from the ‘Golden Hammer’ reissue series initiated by Touch and Mute in the early 1990’s (which diminished the integrity of the releases by replacing original artwork and omitting elements of the recorded work).

‘Seven Hours Sleep’ could be considered representational of the early period of work by the Hafler Trio. Andrew Mackenzie’s project has consistently explored sound in a conceptual manner; interweaving audio and text to create a network of associations: in common with other early Hafler Trio recordings, ‘Seven Hours Sleep’ makes strong and regular use of the voice as a sound source (including a contribution from the semi-fictional Edward Moolenbeek of Robol Sound Recordings) and utilises Chris Watson’s field recordings as a means to provide recurrent textural colour and suture between elements.

The exploration of the contrast between (and the subsequent interaction of) ‘natural’ and ‘synthetic’ sound manifests itself as a dense collage of disparate sound sources which combine to form a flowing piece lasting for just under an hour. Voices, field recordings and ‘radiator’ drones interact within a shifting soundfield: relationships between sounds are implicit and oneiric (as evidenced by the fragmented repetition of motifs and displacement of temporal flow within the piece itself) representing a dada-inflected disjuncture of sonic material (in contrast to the more linear focus of Hafler Trio recordings through the 1990’s).

Fixed elements (loops) are disrupted by sudden shifts in texture and sound source. Voices are looped and processed until they become unintelligible.

Field recordings (ranging from pastoral ambience, street sounds, lapping water and fireworks exploding to the barking of dogs and abrupt cracks reminiscent of gunshots) merge with disembodied fragments of speech, processed metallic vibrations and laminar radiator drones.

The sonic materials are subject to assured organisation and manipulation throughout the piece, making particularly effective use of the spatial range and depth of the stereo field. The signal processing manipulates source materials to the point where they assume new forms: both ‘Two Hours’ and ‘Five Hours’ are particularly effective with a variety of signal processing techniques creating depth and resonance.

The album reaches something approximating resolution in the closing moments of ‘Seven Hours’ where distant and pastoral melodies ebb into silence: the listener may perhaps be inclined towards a sense of reverie at the end of the undercurrent of half-registered sound which accompanies sleep.

However, any expression of an overt conceptual framework will remain in the realm of conjecture: as Mackenzie has stated “I have a very definite intent, but if I talk about it, it will evaporate”.

Reviewed by Nicholas Bullen


ENT
Fuck Work

Baskaru

ENT (Italian multi-instrumentalists Michele Scariot and Emanuele Bortoluzzi) have beavered away at an album of electronica, post-rock, turntablism, noise and electroacoustic improv. The title suggests a more spontaneous approach but the process is described as;

“The five pieces found on this CD were first composed in the studio, before being deconstructed during live improvised sets and finally reconstructed back in the studio, keeping only the elements deemed crucial.”

An approach that on paper I like – it just happens that their idea of ‘crucial’ isn’t quite mine. It’s true that if I was editing, there would only be about 4 minutes worth of music left – but that’s not really my problem.

I'm painting a negative a picture here but it’s not all that bad. You could slap it on whilst you do the washing up or as you pensively stare at pictures of a long-dead cat – as if you were attempting to soundtrack a conscious attempt at expressing emotion…whilst looking at yourself in a mirror.

‘A soundtrack for a non existant movie’ seems an apt description. It just has that feeling – as if it should be accompanying quite a bland but worthy independent short film. I know that I should probably be projecting my own mental images onto the music, but frankly, I can’t be bothered as it neither stirs me nor evokes anything but irritation.

The first track probably did a lot to set up my negativity. It tries hard to be atmospheric droning. It reminds me a little of 'A Small Good Thing' and their album 'Slim Westerns Vol. 2'. It moves further into ‘roadmovie’ territory later in the track, becoming something between Vangelis and a David Lynch soundtrack (complete with cheesy synths), before returning to some irritating guitar twanging.

I’m all for eclectic and varied albums – but a different kind of boring is still boring. Track two is upon us. Micro-samples of static evoke memories of the sea and a tribal heartbeat drum enters your ear along with the sound of electricity. I add to this with the alarm bells ringing in my head – ‘why bother?’ I think.

I wait. Knee jiggling impatiently. Skip on a minute….no…skip a bit more..no…bit more…ahhh…something new is happening. Back to the old Vangelis with some found sound…whatever…skip…still going….skip…listen to the end…sounds like the 02 adverts…yawn.

Track three isn’t quite as boring. It builds up slowly with droning loops and tiny trickles of percussion. It reminds me of cLOUDEAD, although not quite as well done, but it’s enjoyable.

Track four is again unexciting and sounds like French ambient house, pipping and popping like an advert for a car.

Track five – much more promising. Heavy droning works it's way into my head and reminds me of the work of Hans Peter Kuhn - stuttering and swinging. Halfway through some pounding drums come in. Building up the intensity, it is reminiscent of ‘Nurse with Wound’. They beats double up and look ready to burst … more noise … bit more percussive … before … droooooooooone again. Nicely done.

Then - for good measure – and I imagine just to quell any thoughts I had that I might be starting to enjoy it – they throw in a crap country song with a bit of noise over it. It’s at the end of the CD and seems apologetically jokey and just annoys me.

Feeling under-whelmed by the music I thought I would end on a slightly more positive note. The art work for the album isn’t too bad. Like a garish Apple iPod advert made out of sweets. If I had to – I’d give the CD two and a half bon-bons out of five.

Reviewed by Terry Pins