Tag: National Exit Strategy

Drumkit and live electronics

sandyoilkit
The drummer as front man: cover art detail from Sandy Nelson’s album “Drummin’ Up a Storm” (1962)

A performance for live percussionist and responsive computer music system this Friday evening (April 19th, 8 pm, $10) at Musideum (Toronto).

This is the latest incarnation of a solo project of mine exploring the physical activity and cultural imagery of the jazz drummer, juxtaposed with the gestural language and technologies of electronic dance music. It looks at how human and machine-made rhythms and systems can most effectively shadow and complement each other, while straddling multiple musical genres (electronic dance music, ambient/soundscape, improvisation, ‘microdubb’, and generative computer music).

Neil Wiernik, a.k.a. NAW and I will be sharing the evening’s festivities. Feel free to drop by and offer discussion or feedback afterwards. Full event details here.

nes setup detail

Cherry Blossom Promise 2012 Live Set

As spring approaches every year, the blossoms in the grove of cherry trees at High Park are carefully tracked. During their peak blooming period (a 2 or 3 day window) hundreds of people gather to take in the blossoms on the hillside. As if by magic, a sound system appears and a collection of no-beat ambient dj’s immerse the grove and its visitors in sound.

This ambient set evolves through the playing and then processing of vintage – and seasonally appropriate – tracks from my record collection.

Performed on Friday, April 13, 2012 in the cherry blossom hillside grove in High Park (Toronto)

Sleep. Dream. Study. Listen.

Above is a (slightly remixed) excerpt from the Rhubarb 2011 Festival performance of ‘Salle du Rêve / Centre for Sleep and Dream Studies’ with Angela Rawlings and Ciara Adams (voices) and myself (laptop). The first 3 minutes or so consists of an improv the three of us did at the end of the evening. The ‘sleep dream questionnaire’ heard throughout this excerpt was administered to individual audience members, one at a time, in an intimate setting next door to the bar/dance floor. Co-presented by Bluemouth Inc Presents last February (2011) at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Toronto.
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