Archive for the ‘Sound art’ Category
Female sound art noises: Qin Yufen
Posted on: March 13, 2013
- In: Art | Installations | Sound art
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Fellow art blogger Gwen Kuo commented on my post on noise wizard Tim Kaiser with a link to a post on the work of female sound artist Qin Yufen. Born in the Chinese town of Qindao in 1954, artist Qin Yufen has spent the last 15 years living and working in Berlin. This cross-cultural biography is reflected in her site-sensitive installation work. Combining western artistic techniques with such symbolically eastern materials as bamboo, rice paper, and silk, Qin engages an ongoing dialogue between form and content, regionalism and internationalism, and East and West. At times serious, humorous, sublime, and simple, the aesthetics of her painterly sculptures and sound installations have been compared with traditional Chinese poetry, especially in her use of metaphor.
“Qin’s site-specific sound installations present sublime aesthetics which have been compared with classical Asian painting“, according to Gwen Kuo. A video and pictures of several of her sound installations can be found on Gwen’s Gwenart blog in the post “Qin Yufen : Sound, Art, Chinoisuire“. Check this post and other art related posts out on this interesting blog.
Noise wizard: Tim Kaiser
Posted on: January 15, 2013
- In: Instruments | Noise boxes | Sound art
- 2 Comments
Crowd-sourced noises: Crowdchoir
Posted on: July 8, 2012
- In: Computer music | Software | Software art | Sound art | VSTi
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Found on the Soniccouture web site : CrowdChoir.
The Crowdchoir project was an experiment in crowd-sourcing by Soniccouture, a company specializing in sampler VSTI’s : they asked people all around the world to each sing one note from a 3 octave range. Then they layered these recordings in a sampler to create a unique vocal sound – a wash of different voices in different rooms in different countries.
The project was a great success according to Soniccouture: over 1000 people contributed to a final total that exceeded 4000 different notes.
The instrument is now finished, and can be heard and bought on the Soniccouture web site. It costs 20,- Euro and all profits from Crowdchoir sales will be donated to The Red Cross by Soniccouture.
- In: Performance | Recordings | Sound art | Synthesizers | Uncategorized | Videos
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I first became interested in synthesizers and electronic music in the late ’70’s through the music of Pere Ubu (US) and Cabaret Voltaire (UK). Somewhere around 79- ’80 I decided I wanted to have my own synthesizer, inspired by albums like “Dub Housing” (Pere Ubu) and “Mix Up” (Cabaret Voltaire). Especially the weird sounds created by Allen Ravenstine on Pere Ubu records motivated me to start playing synthesizer (besides guitar) . These sounds were made by a modular EML synthesizer. I couldn’t afford an EML however, so I went for the Japanese budget alternative: a semi modular Korg MS-20, which I still own and play today.
Allen Ravenstine was part of Pere Ubu until the end of the ’80s. The modular EML synthesizer remained a basic ingredient of the Pere Ubu sound up until today, played by Robert Wheeler and others. I recently stumbled upon this video of a EML synthesizer jam session by Allen Ravenstine and Robert Wheeler, apparently the first time these Pere Ubu players ever played together. The video contains some interesting interview fragments in which Allen Ravenstine explains how the EML synthesizer became part of the unique Pere Ubu sound:
Allen Ravenstine and Robert Wheeler EML synth session.
The video fragment seems to be part of an upcoming film about modular synthesizers and their players. This is the text accompanying the video:
“In late February, 2012, former Pere Ubu synthesist Allen Ravenstine and current Pere Ubu synthesist Robert Wheeler, two legendary figures of Cleveland’s punk rock scene met at Grant Avenue Studio to discuss and demonstrate the EML modular synthesizers that have been an integral part of the Pere Ubu sound for almost 40 years. The interviews are part of the upcoming film: “I Dream of Wires: The Modular Synthesizer Documentary”. I DREAM OF WIRES interview segments are sponsored by MATRIXSYNTH (matrixsynth.com/). “
Mind boggling noises: ISAM Live
Posted on: November 27, 2011
I watched Amon Tobin’s performance of his latest “ISAM” album live on the closing night of STRP 2011.
Instead of the usual boring DJ – bent – over – a – desk – and – waiving – stupidly – with – his – hands, Tobin’s DJ booth was integrated in a large 3D video wall which displayed a dazzling array of video fragments following the music:
An impressive combination of intricate sound sampling and VJ-ing. The claim on www.amontobin.com that this combination of music and video art provides “a beyond 3-D experience experience” by providing a “stunning multi-dimensional/shape shifting 3-D art installation surrounding Tobin and enveloping him and the audience” was fulfilled IMO, although there was not much (if any) interaction with the audience during the concert: it was so overpowering that you just watched it..
Altogether much more interesting than the Aphex Twin concert which followed “”ISAM Live” and seemed to meander on and on…
nnnoises 