April 13th, 2010
SEAMUS 2010 @ St. Cloud State University in Minnesota
I just returned from several days at the Society for Electroacoustic Music in the United States National Conference. In addition to hearing loads of new music, I gave a presentation on the MPG Carepackage. This continues my efforts to get more people using this collection of patches for networking computers running Max/MSP/Jitter and sharing musical data. Overall, the reaction was positive and I hope many of my colleagues from around the country will follow up by downloading the following files:
It is worth noting that I gave this MPG Carepackage lecture earlier at FEAST in November and you can download a recording of that presentation. At FEAST, I was a little less pressed for time and so it might be easier to understand the more relaxed pace of that version.
I also had a chance to spend some time with two former Stetson students: Jana Fisher (BA/2009) and Chester Udell (BM/2005). Jana had a piece entitled Top40:France selected for the conference. She created this spectral composition for her senior project and it sounded fantastic on the big Genelec speakers. Chester had a piece for trombone and live electronics that was really well done and I am not the only one that thought so; Chester was awarded first place in the annual SEAMUS/ASCAP Student Commission! Big congrats to him as this is a huge honor.
All in all a good conference. Looking forward to hearing where next year will be held.
Banners around campus made sure you knew where you were at.
Tags: MPG, MPG carepackage, SEAMUS •
Posted in maxmsp, presentations, teaching •
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March 5th, 2010
The athletics office here at Stetson called me up a while back and asked if anybody would be interested in doing a basketball halftime performance. They asked for something unusual and unexpected. I put together a special group called Fuel Efficiency: Nathan Wolek (laptop sequencing), Stephen Garza (guitar & loop effects), Patrick Sante (bass), Eric Baum (laptop effects).
Three rehearsals later, I was pretty happy with the results. You can listen to the piece we created for this Feb 20th gig below. I hope we can get the group together again and make more music in the future.
Special thanks to Royce Horak for the invite! We had fun.
Fuel Efficiency making some noise at half court.
Tags: basketball, fuel efficiency, hatter •
Posted in performances •
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February 5th, 2010
Spring 2010 New Music Concert: “Outside the Box” @ Lee Chapel, Stetson University in DeLand, FL. Featuring Kristie Born on piano.
This piece continues my exploration of the potential for laptops in chamber music settings. The piano controls the momentum by choosing from among the musical materials on each page of the score, and in doing so slowly unfolds a harmonic sequence over the piece’s duration. The laptop is used to capture and extend the acoustic output, producing textures that at first only fill in the silences between notes and eventually compete with the piano for attention. The tension builds until the harmonic sequence is finally stated in its entirety, after which the piece unwinds to the final coda. The overall mood is one of reflection, with moments of peace and passion.
page 4 of the score
Tags: new music concert, piano •
Posted in compositions, performances •
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January 7th, 2010
FMEA 2010 Clinic-Conference @ Tampa, FL
My lecture from this year’s FMEA is now available for download. The presentation highlighted how the media has helped propel the concept of the laptop as instrument into the public consciousness. It concluded with some ideas on how K12 music educators can start to wrap their heads about the potentials of making laptop music.
Special thanks to Nick Eggen and the FMEA tech committee for the invite.
BTW, a majority of the photos used my slides were obtained via Flickr, where they are posted under a Creative Commons license. As with all the other content on my site, this podcast is offered under a similar license. Although the photo credits are contained in the presentation, I will also post them in the comments for those that might be interested.
Talking about my own experience with laptop music.
Tags: fmea, laptop as instrument, tampa •
Posted in presentations •
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January 5th, 2010
FMEA 2010 Clinic-Conference @ Tampa, FL
On Thursday this week, I will be giving a lecture at the Florida Music Educators Association Annual Clinic-Conference. This is the largest gathering of K12 music teachers in the state.
My talk will cover:
- the media’s role in how the laptop came to be considered an instrument
- myths and stereotypes about laptop music
- famous names associated with this emerging instrument
- thoughts about what the future may hold
- discussion about what K12 music education’s role could be
If you are going to FMEA, mark your planners or circle me in the program:
Thurs, Jan 7 • 2:45 PM-3:45 PM
Marriott Waterside Room: Meeting Room 4
I hope to see some of my old friends that work in music education around the state. Spread the word and invite your friends. Yes, I know it’s across the street from the main site (as the tech sessions always are!) but I hope to make it worth the walk.
Some laptops in action during an MPG performance.
Tags: fmea, laptop as instrument, tampa •
Posted in presentations •
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December 8th, 2009
Beauty, Horror and Silence @ Harold Golen Gallery in Miami, FL
Recording of this weekend’s performance is now available. Thanks again to Juraj Kojs for the invite to perform in Miami. I enjoyed hanging out with him, Paula Matthusen, Scott Miller, Michael McCurdy and the others before during and after the show on Sunday.
The graffiti sign greets visitors
Combined setup before the show on Sunday
Tags: 12 nights, Harold Golen, Miami •
Posted in performances •
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December 5th, 2009
Beauty, Horror and Silence @ Harold Golen Gallery in Miami, FL
This weekend, I will be performing as part of this three day event that ends the 2009 12 Nights concert series. It coincides with Art Basel Miami, one of the biggest art festivals in North America. The series of concerts was curated by Juraj Kojs, who selected my piece desire for to open up the silence-themed Sunday concert.
A very fitting theme for this quiet piece inspired by distant alphorns my family and I heard one afternoon wafting through the window of our Swiss hotel. It was only after everyone had settled down from the dayʼs activities and committed themselves to silence that the music could be heard and enjoyed. It persisted for such a long time (literally hours) that it was a challenge of remain quiet. Thus the alphorns became a kind of replacement for complete silence the way that a room tone typically functions, but there was something far more pleasing and peaceful about them. Lulls in the conversation would last longer as we would extend our pauses to accommodate the distant, dreamy song. I found myself wishing that all silences could be filled with such beautiful and haunting drones.
Tags: 12 nights, Harold Golen, Miami •
Posted in performances •
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November 16th, 2009
FEASt Festival 2009 @ Florida International University.
If you were not able to attend the FEASt Festival at FIU, you can now download an enhanced podcast recording of my lecture. The topic of the presentation was network-enabled coordination of laptop performance and featured the public debut of the MPG Carepackage.
The patches involved can be downloaded as well. There are currently no help patches, so feel free to comment on this post if you have questions about this work. The demo should work once you have placed the supporting files in the Cycling 74 folder of your Max installation.
Tags: Feast, Miami, MPG, MPG carepackage •
Posted in maxmsp, presentations •
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November 10th, 2009
FEASt Festival 2009 @ Florida International University.
This weekend, I will be giving a lecture as part of the FEASt Festival on my work as music director of MPG. I will be introducing for the first time to a group outside of Stetson my MPG carepackage. This collection of abstractions makes it easy for our members to share relevant musical data over the network and focus on the business building instruments that produce interesting timbres.
Special thanks to Paula Matthusen and Nayla Mehdi for the invite. I am looking forward to it!
MusicLinks screenshot
Tags: Feast, Miami, MPG, MPG carepackage •
Posted in presentations •
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