Category: Concert

Gualtieri & the philosopher in the castle

In the 1700s, Neapolitan philosopher, Giannbattista Vico argued that students “should be taught the totality of the sciences and arts, and their intellectual powers should be developed to the full” so that they “would become exact in science, clever in practical matters, fluent in eloquence, imaginative in understanding poetry or painting, and strong in memorizing what they have learned in their legal studies”. In his book, The New Science, Vico drew a distinction between il vero — “the true” which is the object of knowledge (scienza) since it is universal and eternal — and il certo, “the certain” which, as the result of human consciousness (coscienza), is particular and individual.

On Friday, 8 June 2018, at the medieval/Renaissance castle Maschio Angioino in Naples, composer Vincenzo Guiltieri presented a Concert-in-the-form-of-a-Reading: Voci da una vita, un’esecuzione live electronics di brani dalla Vita di Giambattista Vico scritta da se medesimo (1728) or “Voices of a life, a live electronics performance of passages from the autobiography of Giambattista Vico (1728)”

Gualtieri’s piece, Omaggio a Vico, featured Gualtieri performing live Kyma processing of texts from Vico’s autobiography chosen and recited by philosopher Rosario Diana.

Live percussion and electronics in Coimbra market square

Carlos Alberto Augusto‘s new piece — ECOS (Coimbra version) for 6 percussionists and 6 electronic tracks — will be performed for the first time on 23 June 2018 in the old market square in the city of Coimbra Portugal.

Commissioned by Sons da Cidade, a festival that annually celebrates the city of Coimbra (Portugal) as a UNESCO heritage site, Augusto’s ECO will have musicians and loudspeakers distributed in circles along the full length of the 106m square. The electronic tracks were produced entirely in Kyma and are based on processed recordings of melting ice and an old fog horn’s rotating mechanism. Percussion, performed by the Portuguese percussion group Simantra, and electronic sounds will be further processed by the large square’s own natural distinctive resonances and reflections.

Verlingieri in real time

Composer/sound artist Gianluca Verlingieri utilized Kyma in two new pieces featured in two different events in Italy and UK: a world premiere fixed-plus-live electronics performance in Florence at the Tempo Reale Festival 2018 in May and a fixed-media acousmatic performance in Manchester at the EASTN-DC Week in late June 2018.

Verlingieri presented the world premiere of his 30-minute Requiem da Ballo for live electronics, poet, fixed-media sound projection and custom-made “loudspeaker pipes” in Florence on 26 May at Tempo Reale, the institute founded by Luciano Berio, on a concert named Klang Musica Sperimentale #10 Parola.

The second performance, Suite from Requiem da Ballo, will be 25-30 June 2018 at the EASTN-DC MANCHESTER Festival in Manchester UK. Verlingieri will perform live sound projection in 32-channel surround sound using the MANTIS diffusion system in the Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall.

Verlingieri teaches electroacoustic composition at the “G. F. Ghedini” State Conservatory of Cuneo, Italy, where he also coordinates the Department of New Technologies and Musical Language.

Call for Proposals: KISS 2018 — Altered States

The Arts Division at the University of California Santa Cruz and Symbolic Sound invite proposals for talks, live performances and workshops for the 6-9 September 2018 Kyma International Sound Symposium — KISS2018: Altered States (and Ecosystems).

Altered States

State spaces, state of mind, state of the art, deep state, state machines, state of the nation, state variable filters, topological state, head of state, solid state physics, state of grace, state transitions, spin states, state of the union — whatever your definition of state, one thing is for certain: Sound and music can alter states.

Join us in the state of California as we explore the multifaceted concept of Altered States through talks, workshops, and live musical performances at KISS2018, 6-9 September 2018 on the campus of the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Ecosystems

Atop a forested hill overlooking the Pacific ocean and Monterey Bay, on the tectonic boundary between the Pacific and North American plates (aka the San Andreas Fault), accessible from the San Jose or San Francisco Airports, Santa Cruz is shaped by the economic/technology ecosystems of Silicon Valley, the biological ecosystems of the Pacific ocean and the Santa Cruz mountains, and a continuation of the counterculture lifestyle and political protest movements of the 1960s — hence the sub-theme of the conference: Ecosystems. Whether “Ecosystems” inspires ideas for environmental music & field recording, ecosystemic feedback control systems, the human microbiota, or more abstract political/economic/social ecosystems, we welcome proposals involving “complex networks or interconnected systems” of sound and music.

Important Dates

26 March: Deadline for submissions
15 April: Notification of acceptance & start of early registration

For more information and to make a proposal, visit: https://kiss2018.symbolicsound.com/call-for-proposals/

Underground of Invention

Kyma composer/performers Robert Jarvis and Eckard Vossas are performing at ‘The Loft’ as part of Vossas’ Underground of Invention project. The concert continues from their first visit two years ago and features Scott Fields on guitar, Robert Jarvis on trombone, Matthias Schubert on saxophone, and Eckard Vossas on Kyma, Continuum, and Kelstone). More information.

The highlight of the evening will be a reworking of Vossas’ immersive Kyma-powered Changing Constellations composition, where the four musicians are conducted and their sounds processed by a Kyma timeline that explores the twilight world between natural sound potential and electronic manipulations — in solo instrument language as well as through the relations between the different instruments, pushing the boundaries of the ensemble’s tonal flexibility.

Experience the intensive interaction, organic musical structures, expressive (and sometimes wild) ensemble playing, and four-dimensional sonic textures, with the overall aim of exploring the resonating beauty of sound!

Friday 24th November 2017, 20:30h
‘The Loft’ – Wissmannstrasse 30, 50823 Köln.
Entrance fee: €10/6/5
Music begins at 20:30.

Bach meets Kyma

On 30 September 2017 Franz Danksagmüller performed the premiere of his newly commissioned work “Kyrie” at the Hildebrandt-Tage in Naumburg on an historic pipe organ that was once examined by Bach and Silbermann.

Besides being the first performance of “Kyrie”, this was the first time in history that the organ had been processed through live electronics (Kyma) and the first time it was accompanied by a Minimoog. The Minimoog is a nod to Walter Carlos’ «Switched-On Bach» LP which was produced using a Moog synthesizer and is now considered an important historical instrument, so the historic pipe organ entered into dialog with an historic synthesizer.

According to Danksagmüller, “It was a strange feeling when I placed my mics into the organ, knowing that Bach was also inside the instrument inspecting the pipes etc. So, somehow between space and time, Bach meets Kyma and Minimoog!”

Part of Danksagmüller’s Broken Bach project, “Kyrie” begins with the compositions of J.S. Bach and several of his contemporaries, and reworks them using the techniques and means at our disposal today: sampling, remixing, digital sound manipulation and more. In this way the original compositions are taken apart and their rhythmic or harmonic essence is extracted. Then new pieces of music are constructed using these newfound building blocks.

Last month, Franz performed a live sound track for the silent film Phantom of the Opera to a sold out audience of over 2000 at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg Germany.

Sound & Music for Augmenting Reality

KISS2017 in Oslo Norway 12-15 October 2017 — a symposium on new opportunities for sound designers & musicians in virtual, augmented and mixed reality creation

Sound and music are the original augmented reality technology. Throughout human history, sound and music have played an essential role in transforming the mundane into the sublime, turning everyday events into memorable milestones, and enhancing the flow of experience.

Sound designers, musicians, museum curators, game developers, researchers and others interested in the power of sound to create and augment reality are invited to participate in the Kyma International Sound Symposium, KISS2017 in Oslo Norway 12-15 October 2017. Join fellow participants exploring the uses of sound in Augmenting Reality through talks, live performances, hands-on sessions, and informal conversations over meals (which are included with your conference registration).

Program
The full KISS2017 technical and creative program is available here: http://kiss2017.symbolicsound.com/complete-program/

Here are a few highlights from the international lineup:

• Tour and reception at the Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology, including a special lecture on computer music pioneer Knut Wiggen’s musical innovation during the early years of the EMS Electronic Music Studio in Stockholm (presented by NOTAM’s founding director, Jøran Rudi), followed by a science/art-themed concert at the museum.

• An evening at Norway’s premiere jazz venue Victoria Nasjonal Jazzscene featuring Deathprod/Supersilent members Helge Sten & Arve Henriksen (Norway) performing live Kyma electronics on a program that also includes sets by SØS Gunver Rydberg (Denmark) and Michael Wittgraf (USA)
http://nasjonaljazzscene.no/arrangement/helge-sten-arve-henriksen-wittgraf-sos/

• Presentations on designing sound for planetarium-presentation; listening to the past in museum exhibitions; learning how to listen with cochlear implants; sound and music for calming dysregulated children; cooperation between musicians and machines

• Technology talks including pitch-tracking of live audio signals to control game avatars in real time, multidimensional audio, ambisonics, head-tracking, sonifying geo-spatial data, Open Sound Control, connections between Kyma 7 and the Unity3d game engine, live performance of electroacoustic music for an audience wearing VR headgear, using physical objects to interact with digital sound synthesis and processing, using wireless sensors to control and manipulate sound, and integrating live dance with generative sound and video for mixed reality performances.

• Desktop Demo Sessions where you can speak to the presenters one-on-one and ask them questions about their work

• An Open Lab where you can ask questions and consult on your Kyma projects with fellow practitioners and the creators of Kyma 7

• Live mixed reality performances including:

• A performer running through the streets of Oslo & transmitting a live video feed to the audience as his geospatial data generates and controls quadraphonic processing of a live ensemble
• A live musical performance of a computer game where acoustic audio controls real-time decisions leading to a distinctive outcome on each play-through
• Mixed reality performances where physical objects, like Tibetan bells or balloons, control digital sound and image generation
• Performances utilizing new musical inventions like the Electronic Bull Roarer and a new input device inspired by Ssireum Korean wrestling
• Citizen journalism and crowd-sourced news as an augmented reality performance
• A performance that looks at how organizations can use language to alter reality and neutralize our position as workers
• A mixed reality performance where long-distance communications augment time and space and magnify our stories
• The sounds of writing create sound fantasies in the minds of the audience & then mutate into other sounds that augment and clash with those imagined by the audience

Summary
KISS2017 is an opportunity for anyone interested in creating sound for augmenting reality to immerse themselves in new ideas and experiences and to meet and learn from like-minded colleagues.

Registration includes talks, concerts, reception, lunches & dinners (Student discounts are available): http://kiss2017.symbolicsound.com/kiss2017-registration/

For travel and lodging information: http://kiss2017.symbolicsound.com/travel-lodging/

Official KISS web site: http://kiss2017.symbolicsound.com

To follow the latest KISS news and developments:

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Organizers and Sponsors

The Norwegian Academy of Music
University of Oslo Department of Musicology
NOTAM
Symbolic Sound Corporation
The Research Council of Norway

Contact the organizers

See you in Oslo!

Mu-psi: a sonic analog to sci-fi


Composer and Kyma-creator Carla Scaletti, along with special guests Anna Lum (poet) and Rich O’Donnell (percussionist/composer), present an evening of Mu-psi: a sonic form of science fiction that you experience with your entire body through total immersion in the vibrational field we call sound.

Mu-psi, like sci-fi, starts with a hypothetical premise and imagines a universe in which that premise is true. Inspired by ideas like double-well potentials, friction, Huygen’s pendulum clocks, CERN, and the emergence of life from inorganic matter, the sounds are visceral, passionate, and playful.

Mu-Psi is an evening of live experimental quadraphonic electronic music where the audience is invited to listen, to ponder, to question and, at times, to help generate some of the sounds.

Produced by the HEARding Cats Collective (now in their eighth season of “working to keep St. Louis strange and wonderful”), this all-Kyma concert will be at the .ZACK, the Kranzberg Arts Foundation’s new four-story, 40,000-square foot property, developed in the historic Cadillac building in St. Louis:

Friday, 7 April – 7:30pm
.ZACK, 3224 Locust Street
St. Louis, Missouri USA

$20 General Admission, $15 Students and Artists
Tickets are available at MetroTix as well as at the door on the night of the show.

2017 SEAMUS Award Goes to Kyma Creator


On April 21 2017, the 2017 SEAMUS Award for “important contributions to the field of electroacoustic music” will be presented to Carla Scaletti at the SEAMUS National Conference banquet, following a concert of her music.

Carla is an experimental composer, designer of the Kyma sound design language and co-founder of Symbolic Sound Corporation.

SEAMUS Conference registration is now open: April 20–22, 2017 at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

Cloud to Ground Strikes Again!


John Paul Jones and Helge Sten will be performing together as the Minibus Pimps on April 16, 2017 as part of a Présences Electroniques concert in Paris.

Since their first performance in 2011, Minibus Pimps — a unique and unconventional UK/Norwegian collaboration featuring John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin’s legendary multi-instrumentalist), and prolific electronic musician, improviser and producer Helge Sten (Deathprod, Supersilent) — have, in the words of Mark Roland, been creating a “dense, disturbing primordial world of dread and awe.”

Their debut album ‘Cloud To Ground‘ includes seven tracks, each recorded live at a different venue, from London’s Café Oto to venues in Norway and Denmark. The secret of Minibus Pimps’ colossal sonic gas giants is their use of the Kyma computer system (created by Symbolic Sound). Instruments such as guitar, bass and violin are fed into the system and radically transformed by self-designed digital instruments and processors until their sources are barely recognisable.

More info here: http://www.inagrm.com/presences-electronique-2017-0