STEIM Workshop
I recently spent a week and a half at STEIM and it was amazing. This is the blog I posted for their project blog.
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I’ve known about STEIM, in one way or another, for almost 10 years now. While living in Miami (currently in the UK), it existed as a faraway place where amazing, almost magical, things happened.
After moving to the UK I always had, in the back of my head, a thought that I would go and see it in person. After starting my MA (in Electroacoustic Composition at the University of Manchester) I decided to apply for an orientation workshop.
Now backing it up a bit. Zoom and enhance. Zoom and enhance.
16 Figures
I’m very excited to release “16 Figures”, a improv trio CD I recorded last year with Ray Evanoff and Iain Harrison. After recording Ray’s duo ATEMNT for The Noise Upstairs records last year I proposed an improv project to Ray, which quickly turned into a trio with Iain on sax. The original idea was to have lots of short improv pieces, but after rehearsing and discussing ideas, we scrapped the short pieces idea and just left it completely open. I sort of glazed over what the actual idea was from the start for the sake of everyone involved, but let me just say that it involved a movie with Vin Diesel….
New Duo Recording Session
After meeting and playing with Hervé Perez back when The Noise Upstairs’ Sheffield night started in early 2010 we got to talking about doing a recording together. It took a bit to work out the logistics of when/where and all that, but we finally got in the studio and recorded a doozy.
I played toy piano, Specto, Party Bus, Sidrassi, modified CD-player (ala Nic Collins), iPad (using Grid, Curtis and TOPLAPapp), Namasitar, and some misc percussion.
Remixes
I enjoy doing remixes. It’s not often I have an opportunity to do so as I don’t do traditional remixes (adding phat beats and the like) nor do I know many musicians who seek remixes.
When I do a remix I try to approach each differently, and try to re-imagine the song.
Here are a couple remixes I’ve done with some info on what I did.
The first I did for cottrell/findlay/hunter and Concrete Moniker.
Social Networking – 1 : Rodrigo – 0
I hate social networking sites.
I find them really boring and artificial. Fake interactions between fake friends.
HOWEVER, with how popular these sites are becoming, as an artist, it’s important to be involved, and available with the technology. The only reason I’ve had a Facebook (the worst of these sites as far as I’m concerned) is for that very reason. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), people don’t go onto Facebook to check for music, much less experimental music. Continue reading »
On The Horizon
So many many exciting things in the works. I will list some of them, in no particular order.
A trio record with Ray Evanoff (of Atemnt) and Iain Harrison that has been recorded and is in the process of being mixed.
A solo Drum/Keyboard improv record that will be called “P-P-P-Piano, P-P-Percussion”. Some recording done.
A solo album filled with a shmorgishborg of stuff called “Constantly Rodrigo”.
A duo album with Richard Knight on no-input mixer. We are in rehearsals at the moment.
A drum compilation album I was invited to play on. Other performers include Chris Corsano, Glenn Kotch, and Greg Saunier.
NUS Label Launch Party
After joining The Noise Upstairs last year, Anton and I put a lot of things in motion to help The Noise Upstairs grow and improve. Among them have been excellent workshops, podcasts, and now a new Sheffield Noise Upstairs, but one of the biggest has been The Noise Upstairs Records. We just released our third CD by the amazing Huddersfield duo Atement (formerly Gift of Life, which performed back in November last year). We decided it was finally time to make a big deal about it so we had a label launch night party. Continue reading »
GEMDays Festival
After speaking at the Max/MSP Symposium at last years GEMDays Festival, PA Tremblay mentioned that he’s going to try to get me to perform at this years festival. One year later, it came to pass. I shared the night with Phil Archer. We were both interviewed before the concert, which was wonderful to hear how similar our paths had been, even though the results were rather different (we were both still playing on the ‘circuit-bending’ night). Continue reading »
Xiu Xiu & me and you
So like, one of my bands, Deaf To Van Gogh’s Ear is opening up for Xiu Xiu next month (February 23rd). This is super, absolutely, truly, amazing. It’s the second time we’ve opened up for someone ‘starstruck-able’, the first time being when we opened up for Extra Life last year.
Awesome.
The Party Bus Finished
Finally finished building this little box. It’s a Where’s The Party At 8-bit Bendable Sampler and a buffered 4 to 1 mixer, all in one. It took months to finish, mainly due to problems discovered during my poorly functioning first build. I had to solve clock bleed, a noisy mixer, and other tasty details.
I Am Your Density
I am very excited to finally present “I AM YOUR DENSITY”. This CD has been in the pipe for over a year, being sidetracked by Drum & Bass and Jew Point Owe. It is finally done, and it is a doozy.
I AM YOUR DENSITY is a composition written for a group of improvisers. It was written in 2008 and has been performed twice, once at The Noise Upstairs, and the other time at The Arches in Glasgow, in conjunction with the Red Note ensemble. It was recorded in late 2008, and subsequently mixed by Dan Escauriza. It is being released on Noise Upstairs Records. Continue reading »
Piano + Laptop Improv
Had the opportunity to open up for Ingrid Laubrock as part of The Noise Upstairs Presents. Since the venue (Cross Street Chapel) has a nice grand piano, I decided to forgo my recent ‘solo drums’ improv and do a piano set. I invited Scott Hewitt to join me on Laptop/Sampling. We hadn’t rehearsed prior to the gig, and had only played together as part of larger ensembles at Inclusive Improv sessions, so it it’s pretty fresh as far as fresh goes. Continue reading »
Takahashi on Tour
Just finished a tour with Takahashi’s Shellfish Concern. It was amazing. We played in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, London, Huddersfield, and finally Manchester. Some amazing highs (Edinburgh & London), and some horrible lows (Glasgow). Continue reading »
Drum & Bass: And The Horse You Rode In On
I am very excited to present “Drum & Bass : And The Horse You Rode In On”. This is a duo CD with PA Tremblay that was recorded in early 2009.
We shared a stage in 2008 and after exchanging some e-mails we decided to hit the studio. I showed up at Huddersfield University’s Studio with my ‘drums’ setup. PA had his 6-string fretless bass + Laptop setup, and we let it roll. After months of editing and mixing we carved out this gem. It’s 13 tracks of pure joy. The improvs range from textural laptop-scapes, to grimy stutter-hop, to some smooth jazz, and many other things that I can’t pretend to come up with names for (those above are inadequate enough). Continue reading »
Circuit-Bending Workshop
I ran my first Circuit-Bending Workshop, as part of The Noise Upstairs’ new quarterly workshops. I limited it to only a handful of toys to guarantee that everyone had a ‘winner’ at the end, to avoid what happened to me with my first bend (nothing happened, at all). Continue reading »