Swiss acoustic artist Robin Meier and Ali Momeni manipulate the sounds of insects and birds to create ethereal soundscapes. Read an interview with him about his mosquito-inspired musical installation Truce recently aired in the French city of Nantes. Meier talks about firefly synchrony and setting up feedback loops in nature.

From the interview:

Why did you choose to work with mosquitoes?

Male mosquitoes serenade potential mates with a ‘love song’ by vibrating their wings. They synchronize their wingbeats with those of the females to mate in mid-air. … The constant glissandi — gliding from one pitch to another — and ‘tuning in’ of mosquito wingbeats reminded me of dhrupad, an ancient form of Indian classical music often sung by brothers in unison. My collaborator Ali Momeni and I played male mosquitoes some dhrupad and, sure enough, they tuned in.

“Machines” is an intersection of sculpture, music, and performance. Large metal machines powered by motors, solenoids, pneumatics, and hydraulics, built from the waste of post industrialism. Booming percussives, low frequency vibrations, and howling pipes – all operated to create sounds by musicians poised at control panels.

Kris Perry will start each sculpture from an industrial machine that has been taken out of use. I will travel to scrap yards, auctions, and industrial suppliers to seek out machines that have a combination of visual appeal and functionality. Grinders, shakers, lathes, presses, mills, compressors, saws, and specialized machinery will be the starting point for my works

You can help support his project here.

Open Call for {SØNiK}Fest :: Next event: Saturday, February 25, 2012 :: Deadline: Monday, February 6th, 2012 ::

The next {SØNiK} event will take place February 25, 2011. {SØNiK} takes place over two nights, and submissions are open to all works in sound, new media, performance, and video. Please email sonik@sonikfest.info if you would like to submit your work.

Submission Guidelines: Submissions are accepted via email, by linking to a website or an online audio/video account where the works can be viewed, if available. Continue reading

Zimoun “Volume” :: February 2 - March 10, 2012 :: Opening: February 2; 6:00 - 8:30 pm :: bitforms gallery nyc, 529 W. 20th Street, New York, New York City.

bitforms gallery is pleased to announce Volume, the first solo exhibition in New York by Swiss artist Zimoun. On view will be an immersive, site-specific sound installation based on prepared dcmotors and cardboard boxes.

Part of a series that received its U.S. debut in a solo exhibition at the Ringling Museum of Art this Fall, the installation emphasizes the grid as a method of visual organization. Precariously balanced rows of cardboard boxes form an architectural space containing a rumbling din produced by mechanical motors humming in unison. Continue reading

Sound Series #17: Hence Where Labour - G Douglas Barrett :: January 27, 2012; 8:00 pm :: Presents Gallery, 64 Washington Ave., Brooklyn, NY. Continue reading

Vigilance Improvisations by Eric Laska :: January 28, 2012; 8:00 pm :: Vox Populii Aux Performance Space, 319 N. 11th Street, Philadelphia PA.

This event will feature two pieces in the Vigilance Improvisations framework: “Mutability” performed by Bryan Eubanks and Eric Laska; and “Recursion” performed by Bonnie Jones and Reed Evan Rosenberg and presented by the Philadelphia Sound Forum.

Vigilance Improvisations is a series of structured frameworks for improvising electronic musicians. The archetypical design consists of two musicians, one working with computer and the other with non-computer electronics, improvising together while following unique visual scores. Continue reading

Oterp is a mobile phone game project using a GPS sensor to manipulate music in real time, depending on the player’s position on Earth. It generates new melodies when travelling. The objective of Oterp is to mix the reality of our everyday environment with a video game. This is a new way to imagine our movements in a society increasingly on the move and dependent on mobile interfaces.

Broadcast Art, Sound & Independent Culture :: Call for Participation - Deadline: February 20, 2012; 5:00 pm. Continue reading

Freewaves and Kaleidoscope of Pacific Standard Time announce the Los Angeles presentation of RE:COMPOSITION, a thematic program of four new performances dedicated to the liberating spirit of California-native John Cage’s centenary in 2012. :: January 27-28, 2012; 8:00 pm :: Southern California Institute of Architecture (SciArc), 960 E. 3rd Street + Parking Lot: 350 Merrick Street between Traction and 4th, Los Angeles, CA + live stream via http://dublab.com.

Conceived and produced by independent curator Julie Lazar, RE:COMPOSITION considers how current compositional practices are enabling artists in a variety of disciplines to re-conceive or reconstitute aspects of their art production. Continue reading

CONA Institute for Contemporary Arts Processing presents ZVO.ČI.TI. so.und.ing Collection, a podcast collection of Slovenian sound artists, composers of electroacoustic, experimental, algorithmic, electronic, improvised and composed works. The DVD release of the ZVO.ČI.TI so.und.ing Collection represents the final part of the multi-year project devised to be a continuous production of thematic radio and podcast audio programmes about specific authors and works of theirs that were created in the studio or performed live.

The purpose of the project is to connect and highlight Slovenian authors who make contemporary music in the music performance, sound, intermedia, performing, online and other areas and to present them, using existing communication possibilities, into the wider arena of world contemporary sound creativity. Continue reading