Non-Event: Laetitia Sonami & Joel Ryan w/ Inventmusic :: April 21, 2007 @ 9:00 pm :: Killian Hall at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

LAETITIA SONAMI was born in France and settled in the United States in 1975 to pursue her interest in the emerging field of electronic music. Her work combines text, music and “found sound” from the world, in compositions which have been described as “performance novels”. She is creating and utilizing some of the most sophisticated technologies in order to create an intimate, spontaneous art form which transcends technology. Since 1991 she has developed and adapted new gestural controllers to musical performance and composed works with these materials. Her unique instrument, the lady’s glove, is made out of black lycra and is embedded with sensors which track the slightest motion of each finger, the hand, and the arm. The performance thus becomes a small dance where the movements shape the music. She lives in Oakland, California and is currently guest lecturer at the San Francisco Art Institute, and Milton Avery Summer program at Bard college. Continue reading

Jost Muxfeldt uses Audio Kinematics to create virtual audio sculptures, utilizing the spatial relations and proportions of a mechanical structure to determine various parameters of a sound composition.

The motion in the current realization is based on the principle of a mobile, a binary tree structure combined with circular motions. Since the motions of the individual nodes are always circular, they can over time be described with a series of sine waves added to each other. The motion of one node is thus described by the amplitude modulation of the sine wave of the parent node. Thus the motion is closely related to one of the most basic principles of audio synthesis. Continue reading

A Virtual Space “Sings”

RPM’s Remixed is a telematic, transdisciplinary performance based on remixing Alvin Lucier’s RPM’s score - integrating dance, video and sound improvisation between artists in New York, Tampa, and San Jose.

Alvin Lucier, a well-known composer of music and sound installations that explore natural phenomena and resonance, is renowned for making spaces “sing.” This piece explores the possibilities of using one of his scores to make a virtual space “sing” by using improvisational techniques as well as the natural feedback and delay created by streaming. Continue reading

Stickers on the Souls of your Shoes

Freestyle SoundKit was another piece i liked at the Conflux festival. It’s the latest project by Jessica Thompson whom you might remember for other projects such as the Walking Machine and the Soundbike, a bike that uses motion-based generators to broadcast the sound of laughter as you pedal through the city.

Freestyle SoundKit generates and broadcasts electronic video game-like beats as you move around. You fix a yellow sticker with sensors under the sole of your shoes and each step you take is broadcast as a single beat. Each SoundKit contains a different beat to enable you to collaborate with other users to create a collaborative performance. It looked incredibly simple and the audience had a lot of fun with it. As Jessica said “Move around. Go freestyle but beware! Moves that look cool might not sound cool!” However, some testers (like the guy on the left picture) were quite good at sounding and looking cool. My images on flickr. [blogged by Regine on we-make-money-not-art]

VOICE SPHERE

VOICE SPHERE / ARCHITECTURE & DESIRE (for voice, glove, and live electronics)” Featuring Franziska Baumann, Matthew Ostrowski; Slought Foundation | Friday, June 02, 2006; 8:00-10:00pm; $10.00 at Door (Reservation not required)

Please join us for a special concert with Swiss artist Franziska Baumann (voice and sensorglove live electronics) and Matthew Ostrowski (laptop and P5 glove). Baumann and Ostrowski will each play solo, then in duo. The interactive technologies pioneered by these artists enable them to control articulations of their voices and computers in real time via gesture and movement. A variety of sensors connect their music to the real world of physical phenomena.
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