the eighth nerve

John Paul Jones, composer/performer/producer and one of the earliest Kyma-adopters, was awarded a Kennedy Center Honor for his work with Led Zeppelin on December 2, 2012.  The award, for exemplary lifetime achievement in the performing arts, was presented by President Barack Obama who said of the seven honorees (and of all artists):

…each of us can remember a moment when the people on this stage touched our lives. Maybe they didn’t lead us to become performers ourselves. But maybe they inspired us to see things in a new way, to hear things differently, to discover something within us or to appreciate how much beauty there is in the world.

They didn’t just take up their crafts to make a living, they did it because they couldn’t imagine living in any other way…

“The Age of Cage”, on Friday May 18, 2012 was the final event in an Homage to Cage series organized by the University of Salerno, culminating in Polvere di suono e altri resti (“sound dust and other remains”) a concert curated by Agostino Di Scipio, featuring new music by Di Scipio as well as new realizations of classic Cage works including: a new version of 4’33″ with Di Scipio’s Background Noise Study Kyma patch; several Audible Ecosystemics pieces; and the 6 studi for piano & electronics. The concert, technically managed by Silvia Lanzalone and her electronic music students in Salerno, was a big success.

Di Scipio and Longobardi have several upcoming concert dates that will include a new version of Cage’s Electronic Music for Piano (1964). Imagine Cage’s Music for Piano 4-84 played through a network of self-governing feedback circuits (realized in Kyma), using only piezo discs, getting feedback through the metal and wooden parts of the piano! The Stradivarius label is about to issue a 50-minute long version of the new Cage/Di Scipio work on CD at the end of May 2012.  For dates and times, please visit: Di Scipio Upcoming Events

Detroit Underground‘s DJ Kero and Twisted Tools have released a free sample library drawn from Kero’s vault created entirely with Kyma/Pacarana, Machinedrum, Virus TI, Monomachine, Nord3 and Monome.

Included with the sample pack is a free Kyma Sound that lets you access any of Kero’s twisted loops, processing the mid and side differently. Just roll the dice to create your own “DJ Pacarana”.  There’s also a Sound that randomly selects from the single-hits library for endless entertainment on those long summer nights.