ZKM Feature on Ethernet Orchestra Networked Improvisation :: on ZKM’s DEGEM radio :: director: Mirko Heinemann :: featuring recordings of performances given over the last two years along with interviews that reveal the varying perspectives of networked musicians playing experiences.

The program is broadcast twice a day for a month and can be listened to at different times each day. Times scheduled within program block E. are: Continue reading

Apple II Concert :: June 25, 2011; 6:00 pm: Meeting of the Apple II owners/musicians; 8:00 pm: Concert :: Machine Project, 1200-D North Alvarado Street, Los Angeles, CA :: We are currently seeking Apple II owners to contribute to making this happen! Please contact machine [at] machineproject.com if you would like to participate!

The old Apple II, first introduced in 1977, was a revolutionary computer in many ways. Sound capabilities were not one of them. The Apple II’s sound system, unlike contemporaries such as the Atari 800 or Commodore 64, did not use a discreet sound chip, but rather a simple timer circuit that could be coaxed into creating square-wave tones. Most chiptune musicians tend to use sound-chip based systems, but there is a certain charm to square-wave tones. Some may define this charm as “annoyance.” Continue reading

The Stanford Laptop Orchestra (SLOrk) and Stanford Mobile Phone Orchestra (MoPhO) :: in the conclusion of their 2010-2011 season :: Wednesday June 1st, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. :: in the Dinkelspiel Auditorium, 471 Lagunita Drive, Stanford, CA 94035 :: free and open to the public ::

In celebration of the conclusion of a wonderful 2010-2011 season, the Stanford Laptop Orchestra performs on Wednesday with a full-scale laptop orchestra concert. You are cordially invited to an evening of all new works for the full ensemble of humans, laptops, hemispherical speaker arrays, and crazy new instruments!

Featuring new works and performances by Linden Melvin, Nick Kruge, Hyung Suk Kim, MK Li, Chang Yea, Mike Rotondo, Ben Roth, Chris Beachy, Ben Olson, Jason Riggs, Spencer Salazar, John Granzow, Hongchan Choi, Jieun Oh and Ge Wang.

For details, visit here.

L2Ork (USA) :: Performance and lecture :: Sunday, May 15, 2011 at 9:00 p.m. - May 16 at 12:00 a.m. :: Kino Šiška Centre for Urban Culture, Trg Prekomorskih brigad 3, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia ::

L2Ork, founded by Dr. Ivica Ico Bukvic in May 2009, is part of the latest interdisciplinary initiative by the Virginia Tech Music Department’s Digital Interactive Sound & Intermedia Studio (DISIS). L2Ork consists of up to fifteen tightly networked, yet independently operated laptop computers running open source software (Linux, PD). Continue reading

Sewing Machine Orchestra

Sewing Machine Orchestra from Martin Messier on Vimeo.

Eight old Singer sewing machines in a row are the musicians of the Sewing Machine Orchestra made by one of the two men behind La Chambre des Machines, Martin Messier. The sounds we hear are all created by the sewing machines. Apart from the sound this installation makes, the image of these classic machines put in a clean, modern environment is wonderful, and triggers the viewers memory and imagination.

thanks to: everydaylistening.com

Heart Chamber Orchestra: Playing Music (Literally) from the Heart ::

Heart Chamber Orchestra - Pixelache from pure on Vimeo.

Heart Chamber Orchestra is an audio-visual performance during which 12 classical trained musicians control a music composition and a graphical visualization through their personal heartbeats.

The musical score is generated in real-time by the heartbeats of the musicians, who read and play this score from a computer screen placed in front of them. As a result, the installation forms a feedback loop in which the music literally “comes from the heart”. Continue reading

Stanford Laptop Orchestra presents: Spring Concert 2010 :: June 2, 2010; 8:00 pm :: Dinkelspiel Auditorium, Stanford University, 471 Lagunita Drive, Stanford, CA.

The Stanford Laptop Orchestra (SLOrk) and Stanford Mobile Phone Orchestra (MoPhO) celebrate the conclusion of a wonderful 2009-2010 season with a full-scale laptop orchestra concert in Dinkelspiel Auditorium! You are cordially invited to an evening of all new works for the full ensemble of humans, laptops, and hemispherical speaker arrays (with healthy doses of iPhones and iPads)!

Featuring new works and performances by Chris Chafe, Bruno Ruviaro, Marisol Jimenez, Uri Nieto, Jorge Herrera, Jieun Oh, Ge Wang, Visda Goudarzi, Jay Bhat, Rob Hamilton, Giancarlo Daniele, Charlie Forkish, Stephen Hess, Ben Holtz, Alan Hshieh, Daniel Smith, Lekan Wang, Aaron Zarraga, Nick Kruge, Linden Melvin, Isaac Wang, Luke Dahl, Carr Wilkerson, and Adam Somers!

SLorktastic Chamber Music 2010 :: April 29, 2010; 8:00 pm :: CCRMA Stage, Stanford University, 660 Lomita Dr., Stanford, CA.

The Stanford Laptop Orchestra (SLOrk) presents all new works for electronic chamber music, by members of the SLOrk ensemble and seminar and featuring special guest Jordan Rudess of Dream Theatre. You are cordially invited to join us in exploring new sonic spaces + musical places with performances crafted for humans, laptops, iPads, and hemispherical speaker arrays!

For details go here or visit Stanford Laptop Orchestra on Twitter or Facebook.

[Image: Nicholas Bryan plays multiple iPhones during the Stanford Mobile Phone Orchestra’s Music for Iphones concert at the the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics] From Pocket to Stage, Music in the Key of iPhone, a December 4, 2009 article in the New York Times by Clair Cane Miller and Miguel Helft:

PALO ALTO, Calif. — An expectant hush fell over the audience as the director of the chamber ensemble, Ge Wang, came out and asked them to turn off their cellphones. The seven other musicians, dressed in black, filed in and took their positions in a circle. Ge Wang, a co-director of the Stanford Mobile Phone Orchestra, moved around the audience on Thursday, playing two iPhones. Ge Wang says the iPhone may be the first musical instrument, electronic or otherwise, that millions will carry in their pockets.

The conductor raised his hands. A low droning sound arose, as if the chamber ensemble were tuning. Then the musicians began to swing their arms in wide circles, creating rising and falling waves of electronic sound… Sometimes the sounds were otherworldly…. More: here.

Orchestra Hero by Michael Gordon :: Writing for the New York Times, Gordon poses the question: Will scenes like the image to the right from the Guitar Hero video game (image by The Associated Press/Activision) soon include French horns, contrabassoons and triangles? And his answer is, he hopes so.

What is the hottest thing in music right now? A pair of video games ─ Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Anyone can play. The games allow you to become a member of the band. Each game offers a range of pop music hits on game controllers that look and feel like guitars and drums. What makes these video games so much more impressive than “air guitar” is that through the use of something called the instrument game controller the player actually experiences the visceral feeling of performing music. You can even improve if you practice.

Read more here.