The Cave of Sounds is an interactive sound installation created by artist in residence Tim Murray-Browne with members of the Music Hackspace. It’s the outcome of the Ensemble project, exploring what it means to hack new musical interfaces together.

The work will be exhibited downstairs at the Barbican as a part of Hack the Barbican, outside the stalls entrance to the concert hall and running at the following times:

Mon 19 Aug	7pm — 10pm
Tue 20 Aug	3pm — 10pm
Wed 21 Aug	3pm — 10pm
Thu 22 Aug	3pm — 10pm	Private view: 7pm — 10pm
Fri 23 Aug	3pm — 10pm
Sat 24 Aug	11am — 10pm
Sun 25 Aug	11am — 10pm
Mon 26 Aug	11am — 4pm

The work features eight new musical instruments, created individually by Music Hackspace members Borja Alexandre, Dom Aversano, Tim Murray-Browne, Sus Garcia, Wallace Hobbes, Daniel Lopez, Tadeo Sendon, Panagiotis Tigas and Kacper Ziemianin. You can find out more about the process behind their creation on the Ensemble project page.

Arranged in a circle facing inwards, members of the audience are invited to explore, experiment and experience improvising music with others around them. The instruments are all digital and networked together, allowing them to subtly align in terms of harmony and tempo. Projected onto the ground between them is a visualisation showing musical connections between participants that the installation has detected.

Video by Mind the Film.

The Cave of Sounds was created by Tim Murray-Browne with Borja Alexandre, Dom Aversano, Sus Garcia, Wallace Hobbes, Daniel Lopez, Tadeo Sendon, Panagiotis Tigas and Kacper Ziemianin.

Hope to see you there!

Tim

 

The Cave of Sounds was created through Sound and Music’s Embedded Composer in Residence programme with the Music Hackspace. Embedded is funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation with support from Arts Council England. Special thanks for support to Duncan Chapman, Atau Tanaka, Hannah Bujic, Jean-Baptiste Thiebaut, Martin Klang, Nick Sherrard, The Centre for Creative Collaboration, Troyganic, Queen Mary University of London and Mind The Film.

The Music Hackspace Performances@HacktheBarbican is an event curated by Blanca Regina, on the 15th of August from 19:00 till 23:00pm -Club Stage, Barbican Centre- Free entrance.

On this occasion, 6 acts by various artists showcase and perform audiovisual pieces that illustrate the diversity of practices and aesthetics of the Music Hackspace.

The event will be presented by Jean-Baptiste Thiebaut, who co-founded Music Hackspace in 2011.

Artists include in order of live acts for the event:

ʻLive voice ʼ by Iris Garrelfs
Iris Garrelfs is a sound artist and composer “generating animated dialogues between innate human expressiveness and the overt artifice of digital processing” as the Wire Magazine put it. Tonight she presents a solo processed voice improvisation.
.

Blanca Regina & Leafcutter John Improvisation with special guest Steve Beresford

The duo of Blanca Regina and Leafcutter John engages improvisation, technology and live sound and video.Voices, glitches, objects and visuals are the main elements for this playful audio-visual performance.Throughout this year they’ve performed at Music Hackspace several times, developing a multi sensorial improvisation that follows the path of the unexpected, melting their identities with animalistic and other-world creatures.

“Sawbones 13.2” by raxil4, King Sara and P23
raxil4 is the alias of Andrew Page. His dark brooding dronescapes combine analogue and digital sound sources using a variety of equipment. His main instrument for this event will be his handmade sculptural guitar-like device made from driftwood and bones reclaimed from the River Thames. raxil4 will be accompanied by King Sara on musical saw and P23 on percussion.

Sharon Gal “solo performace”
Sharon Gal is a cross-disciplinary artist, performer and experimental musician. Her practice involves vocal and electronics, free improvisation, collaborative group & site specific performances, field recordings and radio broadcasts. Sharon Gal proposes a performance where she will be doing a set for voice and electronics.

cassiel “solo performance”
Nick Rothwell [aka cassiel] improvises with monomes and code with Gemma Riggs visual artist.

Darkroom “solo performance”
Andrew Ostler of Darkroom will give a solo performance combining analogue modular synthesis, digital control and processing, and a traditional acoustic instrument (in the form of bass clarinet). The ethos of Andrew’s work is that all sound sources are live and un-sampled, to allow freedom of creation in the moment. Depending on mood, this can range from exultant soundscapes to pounding noise.

TIMING& LINE UP

19:00 -19:05 Introduction
19:05 -19:25 Iris Garrelfs
19:30- 20:05 Leafcutter John and Blanca Regina

20:05-20:25 BREAK

20:25-20:30 Introduction
20:30-20:50 “Sawbones 13.2” by raxil4, King Sara and P23
20:55-21:35 Sharon Gal

21:35-21:55 BREAK

21:55-22:00 Introduction
22:00- 22: 20 cassiel
22:25- 23: 00 Darkroom

END

 

About the event

In response to the Trampery’s exciting invitation to join the festival Hack the Barbican, the Music Hackspace proposes a set of activities devised with the aim of bridging, wiring, linking, gating and opening new spaces for collaboration between creative groups and curious minds, allowing the community to relocate its regular activities whilst extending its shareful and adventurous philosophy. This networked multi-directional approach takes the form of site-specific explorations, engaging learning activities and resonating performances. These are structured around an evolving and intrepid itinerary through open research and inspiring free wandering in the Barbican Centre during the month of August.

 

Calendar

• Monday 5th of August, 6pm-10pm, Barbican Freestage: OxLork [Oxford Laptop Orchestra]
• Thursday 8th of August, 8pm-9.30pm, Barbican Freestage: Music Hackspace Workshops Anniversary Programme
• 7th-16th of August , Barbican Fountain Room: ‘Sound hack the Barbican’ with Kacper Ziemianin (residency project)
• Saturday 10th and 11th of August, Barbican Fountain Room foyer: ’60 minute studio’ with Tom Webster and Peter Foreman
• Tuesday 15th of August 7pm -11pm, Barbican Clubstage: Music Hackspace performances night
• 19th -26th August, Barbican Club Stage: Cave of Sounds by Tim Murray-Browne and the Music Hackspace Ensemble (interactive installation)
• Thursday 22nd of August, Barbican Club Stage: Cave of Sounds private view
• 29th of August, 3pm-6pm, Barbican Fountain Room: Material Studies group (Blanca Regina, Matthias Kispert and Andrew Riley)

 

Programme

– OxLork [Oxford Laptop Orchestra] (Monday 5th of August, 6pm-10pm at the Barbican Freestage). A performance by this celebrated group whose members control musical parameters digitally, in real time, with a wide variety of different controllers. Members of the orchestra are trained to code new pieces for the ensemble and to perform with their laptops, dance mats, and other digital devices, all of which aid in the creation of maximally expressive digital instruments. OxLOrk performs with specially designed hemisphere speakers, which mimic the sonic properties of acoustic instruments and allow listeners to perceive each member of the ensemble as an individual performer. Formed in 2012, the ensemble seeks to spark new kinds of creativity – musical, artistic, and intellectual. OxLOrk have already gained a notable reputation, attracting large audiences to their concerts, featuring at the Ashmolean Live Friday and appearing on BBC Radio. http://www.quixatocs.com

 

 

 

– Music Hackspace Workshops Anniversary Programme (Thursday 8th of August, 8pm-9.30pm at the Barbican Freestage). It’s been now one year since the Music Hackpsace started its regular workshops programme. Sharing knowledge is a key part of the activities the group hosts and develops as an open community of artists, hackers, musicians and software developers. In line with this approach, the Music Hackspace workshops programme was initiated in July 2012 with the objective of providing regular learning activities, which are practice-based and related to sound and technology. Since then 12 workshops have been organised, covering areas such as circuit bending, wearable electronics, Max/MASP, DIY synth kits and even Hi-tech kitchenware with electronics, Arduino and Ableton. On the 8th of August we are celebrating our Workshops programme 1st year anniversary with an evening of performances by the some of our workshops leaders and participants. A unique opportunity to see and hear the instruments we’ve built during the year!

 

 

– ‘Sound hack the Barbican’ with Kacper Ziemianin (residency project during 7th-16th of August at the Barbican Fountain Room). Microphones placed all around the Barbican Centre will capture and reproduce the natural sonic environment and the aural aesthetics of the building.

 

– ’60 minute studio’ with Tom Webster and Peter Foreman (Saturday 10th and 11th of August at the Barbican Fountain Room foyer). The public is invited to perform with analogue synthesisers during one hour. These sessions are made public into the internet in real time.

 

– Music Hackspace night of performances (Tuesday 15th of August 7pm -11pm at the Barbican Clubstage). Event curated for Hack the Barbican by Blanca Regina. Artists are invited to showcase, explore and perform their sound and visual projects. Themes revolve around hacking and bespoke instruments, DIY, gathering and language. Acts include Iris Garrelfs, King Sara, Sharon Gal, Cassiel, Andrew Ostler and Blanca Regina & Leafcutter John.

 

– Cave of Sounds (19th -26th August at the Barbican Clubstage). The Cave of Sounds is an interactive sound installation created by artist in residence Tim Murray-Browne with members of the Music Hackspace. It’s the outcome of the Ensemble project, exploring what it means to hack new musical interfaces together. The work features eight new musical instruments, created individually by Music Hackspace members Borja Alexandre, Dom Aversano, Tim Murray-Browne, Sus Garcia, Wallace Hobbes, Daniel Lopez, Tadeo Sendon, Panagiotis Tigas and Kacper Ziemianin. You can find out more about the process behind their creation on the Ensemble project page. Arranged in a circle facing inwards, members of the audience are invited to explore, experiment and experience improvising music with others around them. The instruments are all digital and networked together, allowing them to subtly align in terms of harmony and tempo. Projected onto the ground between them is a visualisation showing musical connections between participants that the installation has detected. The work will be exhibited downstairs at the Barbican as a part of Hack the Barbican, outside the stalls entrance to the concert hall and running from the 19th until the 26th of August at the Barbican’s Clubstage, and will have it’s private view on Thursday 22nd from 7pm.

 

 

 

– Material Studies (29th of August, 3pm-6pm at the Barbican Fountain Room).  The Material Studies Group was formed in 2012 and has since created a number of workshops focused on playful collective explorations of the sounds within matter. So far, workshops have been held at Sound// Space at V22 Summer Club, at SoundFjord Gallery and Cafe Oto, with guest participants including Steve Beresford, Iris Garrelfs and Ryan Jordan among others. For the Hack the Barbican , the Material Studies group (Blanca Regina, Matthias Kispert and Andrew Riley) will conduct and play in a session/workshop of 3 hours divided in 2 explorations at the Fountain Room and at the Lake Patio. For this session we will use multiple materials as cardboard, paper, wood and plastic. Audience can became a participant in any moment. Join us and explore the sound of the materials in a playful experience!

 

 

A team of Hackspace and Music Hackspace members are currently working on a programmable guitar effects pedal called the OWL. OWL stands for Open Ware Laboratory, which refers to the fact that the entire project is open-source in both hardware and software – all code and documents relating to the project will be freely available under the Gnu GPL license.

The OWL is based around an ARM Cortex M4 chip, and can be programmed using a specially developed software framework. The audio processing code takes the form of patches, which are written in C/C++ using a simple API. There is also a project called OwlSim which allows you to run the same patches as VST and Audio Unit plugins. This means that you can test your code in your favourite DAW/host before uploading to the pedal, or just have some fun building plugins with an easy-to-use C/C++ framework. A bunch of patches have already been written and are ready to be tried out.

The team ran a Kickstarter campaign last month to raise funding for a first production run of the pedal and raised more than £33,000 (over 400% funded of the initial £8000 target) in pre-orders. They found it hugely encouraging to see that there are a lot of people out there who are enthused by open-source programmable hardware. Currently the design is being finalised, with production scheduled to start in August.

For more information, check out the project website at http://hoxtonowl.com/, and if you are interested in getting involved in some capacity (this could be web management, PR, patch development, coding or hardware assembly) they would like to hear from you – send them an email at hoxtonowl@gmail.com.

This week at Music Hackspace we have a regular MAX/MSP meetup (like every last Thursday of the month) where people share knowledge and patches made with MAX/MSP environment.

When: Thursday 25th July, 7:30pm

Where: Troyganic. 132 Kingsland Road – Corner of Cremer Street – London E2 8DY

Before that we will have a gig by a guest from Finland – Jukka Hautamäki.

Media artist Jukka Hautamäki (b. 1971), born in Oulu, lives and works in Helsinki, Finland. Hautamäki works with found materials, electronics, sound and video.

Hautamäkis sound performances are a microscopic research and study of electronic sounds. Live setup consists of DIY instruments, which he manipulates in real time by changing components and reconnecting circuits. Music style is abstract ambient-noise with a twist. Hautamäki has made live performances in Finland, Germany, France, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Canada, USA and he has kept interactive sound art and electronics workshops in Finland (MUU, Aalto University, Mansedanse…), Germany, Poland, Latvia and Estonia.

Interview by Avatar Centre, Quebec:

http://vimeo.com/66332376

http://jukkahautamaki.com

Jukka’s performance will start at approximately 7:30 pm., which will then be followed by MAX/MSP group meeting at approximately 8:30pm.

 

 

Join us this Thursday where Tom Richards will give a brief overview of his artworks, music and research, followed by a performance and demonstration of some of his hand made electronic instruments.

Where: Troyganic Café, 132 Kingsland Road, London, E2 8DY

When: 11 July 2013, 7.30pm

Tom Richards has been walking the line between Sonic Art, Sculpture and Music since graduating with an MA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Art in 2004. He has exhibited and performed widely in the UK, as well as internationally in the US, Germany and Sweden. Selected works and live performances have taken place at Tate Britain, The Queen Elizabeth Hall, Spike Island, 176 Zabludowicz Collection, Cafe Oto, MK Gallery, Bold Tendencies, Soundfjord, and Resonance FM. His ‘Broken Patchbay’ EP was released in March 2012.  He is currently studying at Goldsmiths and the Science Museum for a PhD on the life and work of Daphne Oram; Electronic Music Pioneer and founder of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. He lives and works in London.

http://www.tomrichards.info

www.soundcloud.com/tom-richards

We are very happy to be part of Elephant&Castle Mini Maker Faire at London College of Communication.

Please join us on Saturday the 6th of July at our booth where we will be presenting projects built by Music Hackspace members. We will be also talking about what we do and how to get involved. Visitors will have an opportunity to play hacked instruments, DIY contact microphones and even a drum robot. and much much more.

We will have LMH t-shirts and other special items for the guests.

The whole event will have a great atmosphere, there are many workshops, presentations, drop-in sessions and like minded people etc.

The event is free, but you have to book your tickets, so get them while you can!!!

 

 

Music Hackspace Peformance Night.
Performances by Steve Beresford, Simon Longo, Dr Benway , Ewa Justka and
Tasos Stamou

Where: Troyganic Café, 132 Kingsland Road, London, E2 8DY

When: 4th July 2013, 7.30pm

SIMON LONGO as Dithernoise’s live AV set

Duration: 30 minutes

Simon Longo is a sound composer and video artist (as Dithernoise) whose
work includes time based audiovisual media and installation art, exploring
concepts and ideas linked to science and perception.

Simon’s work is inspired through electronica, dance, ambient, digital and
organic aesthetics to create interdisciplinary art with reference to
neurosciences and exploring the interconnection between sound and vision
synaesthesia.

http://www.simonlongo.com/

DR BENWAY

Duration: 20 minutes

Dr. Benway is operating in an auditorium filled with students: “Now, boys,
you won’t see this operation performed very often and there’s a reason for
that…. You see it has absolutely no medical value. No one knows what the
purpose of it originally was or if it had a purpose at all. Personally I
think it was a pure artistic creation from the beginning. Just as a bull
fighter with his skill and knowledge extricates himself from danger he has
himself invoked, so in this operation the surgeon deliberately endangers
his patient, and then, with incredible speed and celerity, rescues him
from death at the last possible split second…. Did any of you ever see Dr.
Tetrazzini perform? I say perform advisedly because his operations were
performances. He would start by throwing a scalpel across the room into
the patient and then make his entrance like a ballet dancer. His speed was
incredible: ‘I don’t give them time to die,’ he would say. Tumors put him
in a frenzy of rage. ‘Fucking undisciplined cells!’ he would snarl,
advancing on the tumor like a knife-fighter.”

www.matthiaskispert.com

STEVE BERESFORD

Duration: 15- 20 minutes

Internationally known as a free improviser on piano and electronics, Steve
Beresford has also composed scores for feature films and music for various
TV shows and commercials.

Steve has worked with hundreds of musicians, including Derek Bailey, The
Slits, Han Bennink, Christine Tobin, Ivor Cutler, Prince Far-I, Alan
Hacker, Ray Davies, Ilan Volkov, Christian Marclay, David Toop, Najma
Akhtar, Evan Parker, Adrian Sherwood, The Flying Lizards, Otomo Yoshihide
and John Zorn.

He plays with and conducts the London Improvisers Orchestra every month.
He also regularly collaborates with musicians such as Elaine Mitchener,
John Butcher, Satoko Fukuda and Shabaka Hutchings, playing at venues like
Café Oto in Dalston, London.

Beresford has an extensive discography. Recent releases include a quartet
convened by saxophonist Evan Parker – ‘Foxes Fox’ – (which includes
drummer Louis Moholo-Moholo, bassist John Edwards and guest Kenny Wheeler
on trumpet) and new solo recordings on CD and cassette, following up
1980’s ‘Bath of Surprise’. He is also producing a series of CDs of
material from the archives of guitarist Derek Bailey.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Beresford

EWA JUSTKA performing The Ultimate Sonic Fla(e)sh

Duration: 20 minutes

Ewa Justka is a polish electronic artist based in London.
In her artistic work Ewa attempts to explore the concept of physicality of
objects through creation of an instant interactions between them.

The Ultimate Sonic Fla(e)sh live act is a direct link between audience and
performer through synchronization of flashing, radiant lights and raw,
industrial sound. It is an audiovisual experience – the listener is
surrounded by shifting lights creating harsh, disorganized sound. Ewa uses
electrical network: hardware, electronic circuits: DIY photoresistor-gated
oscillators and solar panel (the loudness of noise depends largely on the
specific photoresistor and capacitor; when the flashlight hits the
photoresistor – the sound is triggered), and an electromagnetic pick-up;
pulsing, desynchronized lights, lasers, fire – everything which is a
source of glare and builds cacophonic, bizarre rhythms, ear-splitting
volume, a broad spectrum of peculiar timbres and a structure that builds
intensity through sheer repetition.

http://ewajustka.tumblr.com/

TASOS STAMOU

Duration 20-30 minutes

Tasos Stamou is a sound artist involved in electroacoustic composition and
improvised music, currently based in London. During the past few years he
explored and utilized several different mediums of original sonic creation
into various recordings and performances; arrangements with self-modified
sound toys and found objects, electroacoustic equipment (analogue
synthesizer, DIY electronics, computer applications), vivid sonic
performance and sound installations. Mostly as a multi-instrumentalist of
free-improvised music he has presented live sets in solo projects and in
collaboration with other experimentalists and improvisers (the London
Improvisers Orchestra, Evan Parker, Adam Bohman, Valerio Tricoli, Kuupuu &
Lau Nau, Terry Day, Adachi Tomomi) around venues and festivals for
innovative music. Since 2008 he runs “kukuruku recordings”, an independent
label for ephemeral exploratory sound works. He is currently running a
workshop series for circuit bending/ hacking toys for experimental sound
production.

http://tasosstamou.wordpress.com/

The regular monthly meeting is this Thursday June 27th at Troyganic,132 Kingsland Road, E2 8D. PD and others welcome. Last month someone won a Max 6 license – that’s the sort of excitement we have in the basement. Need help with a patch or a project, want to run a / take part in a workshop , got something you want to show and tell ? This is the place – Des

Where: Troyganic Café, 132 Kingsland Road, London, E2 8DY

When: 20 June 2013, 7.30pm

Join us this Thursday where Jimmy Tidey and Tom Bryan will present their composition web app Rifff, a web app that allows artists to compose with a controlled element of randomisation.

Where: Troyganic Café, 132 Kingsland Road, London, E2 8DY

When: 20 June 2013, 7.30pm

 

Rifff is a media playback platform, which enables a composer to provide alternative versions of elements of a track.

It is sample based, and so does not rely on generative synthesis, allowing the content to be totally created by the artist – Rifff does not have a ‘sound’ of it’s own, rather it is a blank canvas; all the sounds it operates with are directly created by the artist.

The composer can provide several different versions of any or all elements of a piece, and these options are then selected from based on predetermined likelyhoods defined by the composer.

It allows a composer to introduce small or large variations in their music, rather than commit to a single definitive version.

It aims to allow recorded music to change its form on every listen, and as a format could anchor a piece of music to a piece of hardware, if the end user wanted to hear every possible version of an artist’s work.

rifff.co.uk

Jimmy Tidey
Web Developer / Technologist
jimmytidey.co.uk

Tom Bryan
Composer & Recording Engineer
bristolsoundproductions.co.uk