Warning: Declaration of Suffusion_MM_Walker::start_el(&$output, $item, $depth, $args) should be compatible with Walker_Nav_Menu::start_el(&$output, $item, $depth = 0, $args = Array, $id = 0) in /home/theatr23/public_html/wp-content/themes/suffusion/library/suffusion-walkers.php on line 39
Jun 212013
 
Still from a/v synth performance at Transcinema, 1999, Benton C. Bainbridge

Still from a/v synth performance at Transcinema, 1999, Benton C. Bainbridge

Here’s episode 104: Adventure Bomb: Projecting, a revised and expanded edition of the set I performed at Soundcrawl in collaboration with Benton-C Bainbridge’s live video projection mapping (“Fast-mapping”). Recorded at Brick Factory Nashville. Best experienced through headphones.

Adventure Bomb is my experimental “scoop & loop” solo project.  “Scoop & loop” is a performance-style that involves scooping out sections of recordings and looping them live … basically, audio juggling.

Benton-C Bainbridge is a media artist based in The Bronx, working with custom systems of his own design. Benton has presented immersive environments, screenings, installations and live performances across five continents, collaborating with scores of artists around the world. He even has a Wikipedia page! (Someone should add this collaboration!)

Soundcrawl is a sound art and new media organization led by Kyle Baker presenting works by the best and brightest new media artists and composers in a unique “opt in” gallery format.

“Projecting” is comprised of:

  • Interviews with Soundcrawl attendees. As they listened to Soundcrawl “sound art” selections via headphones, they were asked to describe what they were hearing. The central idea to this experiment was seeing if I could “map” their descriptions onto the music I was generating live.
  • Snippets of live musical performances occurring at Soundcrawl 2012.
  • Instruments performed by Adventure Bomb live, including a Casio Sk-1 keyboard, circuit-bent toys and various effects.
  • Sound effects and field recordings from Freesound.org. Freesound aims to create a huge collaborative database of audio snippets, samples, recordings, bleeps, etc … released under Creative Commons licenses that allow their reuse. Listeners are encouraged to donate to Freesound.

The interviewees (in order of appearance):

  • Lesley Beeman
  • Unknown (Let me know if you can identify this person)
  • Antonia Oakes
  • Joe Nolan
  • Tony Youngblood
  • Ilana Morgan
  • Ryan Hogan
  • Unknown (Let me know if you can identify this person)

The 2012 Soundcrawl performers sampled (in alphabetical order):

  • Jason Fick
  • Timothy Harenda
  • Ilana Morgan
  • Adam Vidiksis
  • Sally Williams
  • Mark Zanter

Freesound.org collaborators and the names of the samples used:

Big thanks to the participants and to the Freesound artists! Thanks for listening!

Jul 122012
 


It’s the fifth and final day of the Great Podcast Releasathon 2012!(tm). (“But Tony, you said it was going to last a week!” — I meant a work week, sue me!) Here’s episode 89, Heavenly Noise, starring DaveX, Tony Youngblood, Tom Denney, Kevin Vogel, and Matt Giant. We recorded Heavenly Noise way back in 1999 at my college radio station WIDB on the campus of Southern Illinois University. It was the ninth episode of the original incarnation of Theatre Intangible, ~Ore~ Prefab Audio Extrapolations. We were trying to spoof a Christian call-in show, actually trying to get real people to call in and contribute money to our “interfaith” cause. I vaguely remember DaveX and myself flyering the buildings at SIU with a faux Christian student group flyer that must have been pretty blasphemous; they were taken down by some unknown force by the next day.

Apologies to listeners who are religious or who have, you know, taste.

Update: Dave adds his thoughts:

“I don’t think that’s the Lord anymore.” Pretty much sums up this rather silly outing for ~Ore~. I detect some of my Tom Jones record in there, and that weird sequencing freeware we kept using. And a healthy dose of random preaching records. As I recall, I was always very much on-edge during these shows. Live experimental improv is always going to be tough, but making ~Ore~ was rather like jumping in the deep end head first. I don’t have Tony’s natural ability with instruments, so I probably had to work three times as hard just to keep up. On an episode like “Heavenly Noise,” pretty much everything I did was a sort of point blank improvisation, literally learning my “instrument” (devices, the studio, actual instruments, etc) as I went along. Absolutely flying blind, but listening and learning along the way. It took a long time before I trusted myself enough to just work a single idea– I distinctly remember scoffing (mentally) at the guest who brought in a singing drum and just played it for an hour (on another episode) and though I still don’t think he was really participating with all of us very well, I’ll admit that focusing on process or developing a simple idea ended up being something I really appreciate now. Like I said, there was (and still is) a lot to learn! “This makes me ill. This sickening blasphemy. It makes me churn!” A hilarious addition from Tony’s brother there, who sat in (or called in, as he did here) during numerous episodes. (Tony’s note: I think that might have been Matt Giant.) Tom Denney also makes some great contributions here– I love the bit about being made to dress up in women’s clothes, classic. I hear some “he was doing it, but he wasn’t really doing it”, which I’m pretty sure came from an interview with one of Jimi Hendrix’s girlfriends, from the Rainbow Bridge film, sounds like a little microcassette work, but perhaps pre-recorded for this episode. Yeah, definitely that album– I still quote the bit at the end every now and then, “I’ll always touch you.” Funny how certain things stick with you.

And oh yeah, here’s a flyer to dig on. It’s not specific to this show– we didn’t always make one with the theme represented, because we didn’t always know very far in advance what we were doing. This was from right around that time, though. I ended up recycling these images many times in various flyers, but always worked my way back to the “old lady” gag, because I think it’s hilarious.

–DaveX

Jul 112012
 


It’s day 4 of the Great Podcast Releasathon 2012!(tm), and this is episode 88, Prong and Spittle, featuring Bobobobobob on Sequential Circuits Prophet synthesizer, William Davis on electric kazoo through Chaos Pad, Paul Cane on ukelele through guitar pedals, and myself on Boss RC-50 Looper, SK-1, bent sleep machine, and bent audio book. Prong and Spittle was the 11th episode of the WRVU era of Theatre Intangible, recorded April 6th 2008. Listening to this gets me nostalgic for the early WRVU crew. William Davis and Paul Cain have since moved away from Nashville. [Update 2012-07-23. Paul tells me he’s back in Nashville!] Bobobobobob has been keeping busy refinishing his house after the 2010 flood, but he tells me the repairs are almost complete. I hope to have him on again soon! There’s nothing quite so wonderful as a well-tempered 70’s analog synth.

Check back tomorrow for a WIDB-era episode in which we spoofed a Christian call in show.

Jul 102012
 


In keeping with the Great Podcast Releasathon 2012!(tm), here’s episode 87, Angelia, featuring DaveX, myself, Tom Denney, the Care Bears, and probably some other people I can’t remember. (Possibly Wil Bernal.) We recorded Angelia way back in 1998 at my college radio station WIDB on the campus of Southern Illinois University. It was just the third episode of the original incarnation of Theatre Intangible, ~Ore~ Prefab Audio Extrapolations, and it’s the very first appearance of my original co-host DaveX. The non-live recordings on Angelia were audio experiments I had recorded on my Roland VS-880 digital 8 track.

Stay tuned tomorrow for day four of a full week of podcasts!