array ICMC 2005 Reviews Jon Appleton and Daniel Shapira 2007/2008 Throughout the concert, Xelo Giner played music is Harika Hirayama. Her works the saxophones with great versatility and have been recognized in competitions and conviction. ICMC 2006 Reviews by inclusion in recent ICMC concerts. Tulane University Her virtuoso solo was superbly A review of this concert would be incomplete New Orleans, Louisiana, USA performed. The inharmonic string- without mentioning an aspect of all the like attacks were striking and sometimes 19:30 concerts: there was no interval and Concert V: Tuesday, 7 November even grotesque. Noticeable in many works minimal gaps between the pieces. Preparing 1:30pm, McAllister Auditorium like this one performed at the conference for the next work by checking the title or by Jon Appleton and Daniel Shapira was the return of feedback techniques program notes was not possible unless one updated through granular synthesis. had brought a torch. My notes on some of Path to the Serene - Yuriko Kojima these pieces were written in total darkness Japanese composer Yuriko Kojima’s Das Bleierne Klavier - Hans Tutschku and so hard to read. In ICMC 2003 the chamber work for the Azure Ensemble Composer and pianist Tutschku’s 11-minute conference pen incorporated a light, and I was beautifully performed. It was a work seemed to last an eternity. Filled with wished I had that with me to record more lovely, gentle, colorful, post-Debussy the tired gestured of the European avant- fully my impressions. work without any significant appearance garde, this second-rate import featured of computer-generated sound or the most simplistic delay and processing modification of the flute, violin, cello, modifications of the strident timbres. harp or piano. Harvard University, Tutschku’s home, has proved itself again to be an ultra- Balacoire #15 - Jeremy Baguyos conservative bastion of “modernism.” Goelle Leandre’s vocal techniques are Many in the audience were angered by the source of Jeremy Baguyos’s Balacoire being subjected to this drudgery. #15. An arresting and highly original work, it suggests life in a surrealistic Seven Lonely Rivers - Kristi McGarity bird sanctuary. Sometimes the music A rising star of the American computer alternated between the effective use of music scene is oboist-composer Kristi silence and highly humorous organic McGarity. Her work for oboe and tape sounds. Perhaps the looping audio was was a wandering, impressionistic, modal excessive, even if the repetition was melody over a tonic pad with contrasting intentional. sections of wildlife sounds. Verging on new-age ambiance, it occasionally breaks Fragmentary Seven - Haruka Hirayama out in unexpected and adventurous ways. A rising star of Japanese computer les jeux sont faits - Tommaso Perego Violinist Viktoria Horti of the Onix

35 36 array ICMC 2006 Reviews Adam Jenkins 2007/2008 Ensemble (of Mexico) brilliantly sound to sparse droplets. If there was a sound which represents hearing the single almost indistinguishable performed Italian composer Tommaso For me, the piece was very effective in the pain of being ripped and torn apart, concept—the blowing limbs of a tree. A Perego’s les jeux sont faits. In one leading the mind to see, hear, and feel the this would be that sound. To me, it would little later, there is more movement with steady gesture, from near silence to a power of dust. Dust on its own is small, represent the anguish of being put back the leaves, and a darker image seems to be violent climax, this piece meticulously scant, and almost insignificant. However, together after having your entire body seen, though the image is still fuzzy. The explores one high-pitched dyad. This is when dust is thought of as dirt, you can disassembled like a jigsaw puzzle – as sound of crows cawing leads us to think extended by computer-generated filigree. imagine how a mass of dirt, dust, or grains painful as being torn apart. The piece ends the image is a bird stopping for a rest. The Explosive interjections ultimately dominate can create undeniable density. It is like a with just the didgeridoo – calm, peaceful, sound of wind bleeds to sounds of waves the progress of this work. sandstorm, a swarm of bees, or a flood whole. on a beach and then back to sounds of of water molecules. I truly enjoyed the wind. This increases the meditative feeling soundscape. Overlooked – for video – Edrex Fontanilla of stability through ambiguity. The piece Concert VII:Wednesday, 8 November (USA) 8:52 ends with a visual and auditory fade to 11:00am, Dixon Hall Dreamtime – for didgeridoo and digital black and silence. by Adam Jenkins playback – Eric Honour (USA) 8:42 The description of Overlooked states, “The work attempts to explore ideas of being, Microcosmos – for tape – Chih-Fang Huang DUST – for tape - Hans Timmermans This piece starts with solo didgeridoo. structure, and stability through ambiguity 5:05 (Netherlands) 10:28 Popping sounds enter as well as what between the use of analogue and digital sounds like sped up voices. Deep sonic processes.” The video starts with darkness. This piece is built from many different This piece started with short crisp popping waves which feel like angry winds rumble Slowly, from the bottom right hand corner, sound samples derived from direct and sounds. These were used as grains to create in. At this point the didgeridoo player has a white fuzzy light begins to emerge. There indirect synthesis techniques. The best way a mountain of sound which washed over dropped out and the digital playback is the are soft rumbling and tumbling sounds. I can describe this piece is simply by stating the audience. Raindrops joined in and soon only instrument. The deep waves create The rest of the screen slowly illuminates, what the ears would communicate to the clips of a female speaking did too. The the feeling of a chasm. The quick vocal exposing a blurred black image of what conscious mind. Most of these sounds sound of her voice was cut short, but it was chatter continues and builds to a whooshing looks like tree branches swaying from gusts only play for a short while: a loud piercing long enough to recognize it as a woman’s sound. This whooshing escalates and then of wind. Sounds of wind increase the blast; a banjo; horns trumpeting; a variety voice. Robust low frequencies rumbled into collapses on itself to silence. Fiery ruffles sensation that we, the audience, are looking of different instruments; laughter; the the landscape, creating a warm foundation emerge and the didgeridoo joins in as well. at tree branches. However, the image is plunking of an eastern stringed instrument; while the crisp popping sounds continued. We then hear a percussive beat, a primitive distorted and leaves the mind to wonder the hum of soft wind and a variety of Deep wisps of wind blew louder and louder, keyboard synth patch, what sounds like a what we are looking at. The image is not in instruments that inhabit the same space; a as well as what seemed like a wave of water large barking pit bull, and quick chipmunk color—it is simply black and pale yellow. It high “ding” and then the low “dong” of crashing onto the shore. The sound of chatter. This swells and everything exits is a little brighter in the center of the screen a bell; soft wind, almost like white noise; wind and water merged and symbiotically except the didgeridoo and the synth pad. and that leads the audience to assume it is a low stringed instrument that sounds like form a vicious storm. A synthesized choral The sound of a beating heart comes in for the sun shining through the branches. The moaning; more and more sounds join to pad sustained near the end of the piece. It a few seconds. Eventually, the didgeridoo wind and branch movements continue for create a sonic tapestry. All the timbres and ended the same way it began. The popping exits and new sounds enter creating an a while, giving the audience a meditative sonic qualities of each instrument make degenerated from an enveloping wall of uneasy feeling – angry, lamented, painful. feeling. This is caused by looking and an appearance and then are taken away.

37 38 array ICMC 2006 Reviews Adam Jenkins 2007/2008 The piece does indeed create vast layers of by; crisp popping; fast chattering voices; is then also the view of telephone wires on ConcertVIII:Wednesday, 8November sonic microcosms. the sound of glass slowly cracking; the which two birds are perched. These images 1:30pm, McAllister Auditorium ringing of an old alarm clock bell circles the are in inversed black and white, like photo by Christopher Bailey Et Iterum Venturus Est – for real-time Csound5 audience; a hit on a damp metal drum; more negatives. The music mirrors this inversion – Arthur Hunkins (USA) 4:30 metal hits which sound like the clanking of by playing the piano phrase backwards Concert VIII of the ICMC featured mostly This piece is sonically simple. For this metal machines working in a large echoing as well as forwards. The next video is of works for some sort of live performer with reason, it is also very relaxed and meditative. factory with cement floors, ceilings, and an older roller coaster, one whose support computer music. It begins with a quiet low hum which rises walls; the alarm clock bell which seems beams are layered and made of metal and gradually and steadily. A second note starts, more like a fire alarm bell continuing to wood. The beams create a grid of lines. William Kleinsasser’s Protean Profile’s large then a third, and then a fourth. All of these ring; machines rhythmically hammering The next video is of a carnival ride called time scale (the work was 20’ in duration) notes take their time to enter. A single and wind howling again; wooden blocks a swing. Wikipedia describes these rides caught me a bit off guard at first (I had note is held and its intensity builds and clunking, falling, and tumbling down. As as the following: “The swings are types of barely glanced at the program). Not becomes louder. A low note rumbles in and a whole, this piece created a feeling of a amusement rides that have seats attached expecting its extended length, I found that takes over. Its pitch rises slowly over a few metal machine factory dripping with water. below a metal structure. Each seat is there were a large number of moments minutes. The higher pitch then becomes It was cold, damp, and expansive. suspended by metal chains. The swing ride where I thought “wow, that’s a beautiful more prominent. After a few minutes, the will spin around the center axis of the ride, ending…” only to have the work start up high pitch diminishes in volume as if it were lines – for video – Stephanie Loveless and travel at a moderate speed.” The metal again. That’s often a source of frustration fading farther and farther away. The note (Canada) 9:30 chains hoisting the seat again reinforce the for a listener, but upon reflection afterwards, begins as low and majestic and it ends as image of lines. As the ride spins, there is the if I had known what I was in for, I think quiet and faint. The sustain of these notes This piece has a series of video images that sound of children chattering. The video of I would have loved the piece for the very lends us to focus completely on the music are all connected by the concept of lines. the blue line from the film reel reemerges, fact of it being a “collection of beautiful and the piece itself, but it mostly occupies The first video is like the beginning ofa reminding us of the older faded medium endings.” Kleinsasser has a beautiful sense our ears enough so that we can be with the film reel as shown through an old movie that this video is representing. The music of pitch choice, modernist in heritage, but foundation of our own minds—which is projector. It is scratchy and there is a vertical continues with low piano notes played in gorgeous and romantic in ultimate effect. one of the things that meditation attempts pale blue line in the center of the screen. reverse. The music is quite minimalistic to accomplish. The colors and tone are pale and worn. It and has a somber tone reminiscent of LongTrainRunning by Sinichiro Toyoda feels like watching the beginning of an old Radiohead. The piece ends with a fade to was an odd little sonic snipshion. I found The Gongs of Tiny Incerts – for tape – Jeffrey home movie before the days of DVDs or white, which makes sense; since a variety myself listening into its swaths of mostly Stolet (USA) 9:05 VCRs. A piano phrase accompanies this of images were inverted, the end is not a low-end noise, recordings of ambience in video and continues throughout the entire fade to black, but a fade to white. subway stations and so on; occasionally Like Microcosmos, The Gongs of Tiny piece. The next video is train tracks in picking out pattering footsteps, a crash Incerts is best described by stating what was what seems like an industrial area. These Editor’s note: There are two reviews of this or that, and so on. Another heard and felt: A crash of cymbals; what straight tracks stretching to the horizon are for Concert VIII. However, since they exploration of noisiness was found in dirty sounds like many wind chimes rustling and another depiction of lines. The image is not represent two unique perspectives on the grooves by Iain Armstrong, which, to my howling wind; screeching bats; the mood is stationary. The camera person is walking concert, we have decided to publish both. ear, focused on a dialogue (or perhaps dark and damp; a boomerang whooshing forward, giving a sense of movement. There a parent-child relationship) between LP

39 40 array ICMC 2006 Reviews Spencer Stuart Topel 2007/2008 scratch noise, radio static, and other audio only common thread between them was The results were pleasantly effective, with a very successful approach. detritus, and what sounded to me like the intensity of energy. For the last part of an often-ethereal blend of something that harmonies synthesized via sharply filtered the piece, the two came together, with the could be perceived as both electronic and Timelines 1a by Victor Lazzarini (Ireland) noise (though according to the composer’s piano riffing more quietly over sensuous exotic. had a folk-like quality as well, but of program notes, they were from a clockwork electronica-esque harmonies. a Spanish flavor. Lazzarini offered an music box). A highlight of Concert VIII was the first extended work for guitar and an electronic Finally, Christopher Dobrian’s Mannam piece on the program: Spaces Between by mixture of what sounded like tape elements Victor Lazzarini’s Timelines 1a was a curious (Encounter) for daegum and computer Jen Wang. This trio plus tape featured an and live processing (though I suppose most experience. Although the guitar writing and Jason Bolte’s Forgotten Dreams for “east meets west” quality, and from the of it could have gone either way). The was skillful, and there were some moments double bass and computer were gorgeous, dramatic unearthly pizzicato opening this music was driving and at times turbulent. of effective combination between the sensuous works, and both received superb, was immediately apparent. The music The timbre of the electronics often seemed laptop processing and the acoustic guitar expressive performances. Mannam’s seemed to have an unsettling tension born from the guitar itself and this was sound, the guitar was often dwarfed by electronic sounds entered in a very subtle between members of Onix Ensemble and effective. The performance was given by the purposefully brash and often distorted manner, growing and morphing atop and the electronic backdrop, while at times Javier Olondo, a talented and technically processing. At the opening of the piece, around the live daegum. Forgotten Dreams returning to a carefully wrought repose. gifted guitar player. the processing was loud and distorted was a darker work. Some poetic fragments At certain moments one could perceive for a lengthy chunk of time, causing a that occurred to me during this piece: “… an exotic flavor in the electronic tape part, A piece that paid respect to a different neighboring audience member and I to dark trigger for noisy blasts, a scream in an yet Wang playfully avoided any direct tradition was a laptop improvisation aptly wonder whether there were problems with industrial hell…” reference to one particular idiom. This was entitled LongTrainRunning by Shinichiro the performance patch. In a way, this an effective play on expectations that lasted Toyoda (a reference to train inspired kind of ambiguity made the piece more the entire piece. At times the music seemed pieces). The music didn’t stray far from the interesting, but I still have no idea whether ConcertVIII:Wednesday, 8November traditional, but it was not a drawback. metaphor, but the composer balanced this this was intentional or not. 1:30pm, McAllister Auditorium Rather, the juxtaposition between ancient potential vice by sprinkling sonic curiosities by Spencer Stuart Topel and electronic contributed to the east-west within the texture that would come and Both Jen Wang’s Spaces Between and Sam dichotomy that the composer describes in go in interesting ways. This was one of Pluta’s noise + mobile were effective works An important theme during ICMC 2006 was the program note as an inspiration for the the works on the program that seemed a for instrument(s) and tape, but there the the employment of ancient or non-western composition. bit long, but I should point out that it was similarities ended. Wang’s work was instruments with electronics. This was an improvisation, and that I have a special relatively quiet, subtle and coloristic, integral component of the conference, Christopher Dobrian’s piece Mannam fondness for train pieces. carefully weaving the mostly diatonic, as there were fantastic guest artists (Encounter) tapped into folk instrument- sensitively arranged pitch and timbral from the Korean Traditional Ensemble plus-electronic motif with interesting uses dirty grooves, the “lone” tape piece on the material between the live and recorded participating in various performances. It of a Korean instrument called a daegum program by Iain Armstrong, provided an sounds. In contrast, Pluta pitted Cecil was exciting to see how many pieces either coupled with real-time processing. The interesting foil to the other works. Like the Taylor-inspired mayhem in the piano part incorporated these instruments or samples approach to the electronics was organic title suggests, this piece was raucous and with Autechre-inspired derangement in the of these instruments into their tape part and worked to highlight aspects of the jovial. I especially liked the expressiveness tape part. For the first half of the work, the or as a component of live manipulation. instrument’s timbral characteristics. It was of the samples, as they were strong in

41 42 array ICMC 2006 Reviews Stephanie Loveless 2007/2008 character and were well matched. This is composed seemed idiomatic to play and Shutting out sound: the ICMC unplugging There were still plenty of people on the top definitely one of the pieces in the festival the expressive and charged nature of the Late-night Concert Two floor of the Mimi’s when I arrived, but I that I felt could have benefited from a writing lent itself well to the electronic Wednesday, 8 November 9:30pm, didn’t have to push my way through a crowd different venue, simply because the scale backdrop. Mimi’s to reach the back area where Niroshi was of the work suggested a more intimate by Stephanie Loveless performing. I inserted my earplugs and atmosphere. In addition, the lights were Another standout in the program was made my way towards the performance, rarely, if ever, lowered for electronics-only Jason Bolte’s Forgotten Dreams, with a great my ears acclimatizing to the sound field compositions, which would have helped the performance by double bassist Jeremy I arrived late for this particular event, at hand: piercing, complex, beautiful, and reception of tape pieces, at least for me. Baguyos. This work has a lively interaction the second of the late-night concerts at loud. But just as I reached the performance between the solo double bass and laptop, the 2006 International Computer Music area, someone rushed behind the artist and Of the eight pieces on the program, two and these two components are handled Conference in New Orleans. The event the sound was abruptly cut off. involved the piano timbre explicitly. The expertly. At times the mood was psychedelic was being held at a bar called Mimi’s on first was a mammoth (by ICMC standards) and vibrant, which seems to agree with the Royal Street. On the ground floor were The 2006 ICMC was not without its twenty-minute work by William Kleinsasser composer’s note that the piece is inspired pool tables, locals, and rock music. I made moments of performance art (Meg entitled Protean Profile for amplified by “abruptly waking from a dream.” my way to the back of the bar and up the Schedel’s instructional Max/MSP/Jitter and computer, performed by duo runedako. Forgotten Dreams appeared at the end of stairs, passing scores of ICMC attendees piece involving a rubber chicken comes to Technically, it seemed that the amplification the program, which was a suitable choice going the other way. “Loud,” they told me, mind), and when Nishino’s performance detracted from the performance, while considering the pyrotechnics in the music. some with resigned smiles, some visibly was unplugged by another composer, at times the pianos seemed to overwhelm annoyed. that was the lens through which I found any sense of the electronic background. Overall, the program encapsulated much myself viewing it. For, regardless of (Having had a piece on an earlier concert of the music heard during ICMC 2006, Scott Smallwood and Newton Armstrong the appropriateness of the action, what in McAllister, I could definitely relate to especially since there were so many organized four late-night concerts at ICMC happened sparked an incredibly responsive technical problems.) Even so, the feeling interactive pieces presented during the 2006. Their laudable (and successfully set of dialogues, going so far as to challenge of the piece did come across. In many festival. I am curious to see if the ancient/ realized) intention was to expand the the accepted relationship between artist ways this piece paid the greatest homage to non-western instrument motif that was ICMC community’s reach beyond and audience at a concert event. some of the classic piano plus tape pieces heard so much during the week will academic acousmatic music. According to by and . continue in coming years. For me, I found Smallwood, these events sought to recognize The general post-incident analysis was the wedding of technology and traditional, the interesting and intelligent music being straightforward. No one contested that The other piece involving piano was Samuel the ancient and the very new­­­­ extremely made in communities outside of academia, an artist has the right to play loud— Pluta’s noise + mobile featuring pianist Teresa appealing, and I look forward to seeing with its own “long history and streams of particularly, as in this case, when this McCollough. Unlike Protean Profile, this work of composers engaging in these kind discourse.” One of the artists selected volume is integral to their work. It was piece could have benefited from better of projects in the future. I think I am going for this series was Hiroki Nishino, whose understood that this was a Noise piece, and sound reinforcement of the piano, since to go start a piece for sheng and electronics performance was programmed as part of that part of the aesthetic of Noise music is at times the electronics would overtake right now. the Noise-themed late-night concert on its loud volume, “just like some pieces need the piano even in places when the piano Wednesday, November 8th. to be played soft,” as Nishino pointed out was playing loudly. The musical material in a later discussion. Also widely agreed

43 44 array ICMC 2006 Reviews Seongah Shin 2007/2008 upon was that unplugging an artist is an What happened when the composer I do believe that all of these ideas are useful. Concert X, Thursday, 9 November inappropriate way to voice one’s concerns. unplugged the amplifier was that he shut They do not limit an artist’s freedom to play 1:30pm, McAllister Auditorium out the sound that he seems to have felt as loud as they like, but they do encourage by Seongah Shin What interested me, however, were other violated by. While a more civilized response sound levels to be approached rigorously, things I heard being discussed immediately may have been to leave, I believe that the and with care. In fact, I feel that such The tenth concert of ICMC 2006 started after and in the days following this incident. frustration that erupted onto Nishino’s protocols can create the space in which with an announcement of a change in For the first time, I heard people addressing performance can be seen as a symptom of conceptually intended loud concerts can the order of works to be performed at larger concerns about playback levels at widespread inattention to sound levels, and be far more meaningfully engaged with. I McAllister Auditorium. The venue is a the ICMC that I had been struggling with of a culture in which the omnipresence would argue that in a context in which the huge charming auditorium with many myself. I overheard two people grumbling and amplification of sound is increasingly level of sound is not attended to with the doors in various locations and a high about the level of the concerts in general, naturalized. same diligence as any other sonic element, ceiling that gives a very long delay time and other complaints about the need to we are missing the framework for sound art with various different times from almost- wear earplugs even during the daytime It seems as though this incident was timely. that seriously explores volume—whether round walls. This character of the space concerts. Of course, I heard and remember Issue 9.4 of the Canadian Electroacoustic the barely audible or the painfully loud. gives the perception that the sound of the these grumbles because they resonated Communities journal eContact!, which music is roomier than in a normal space. with me. Are we, culturally, bowing to the appeared shortly after the conference, R. Murray Schafer once wrote that it The performance ran smoothly without deafest denominator? focused on “Hearing (Loss) and Related is not through increased legislation that any major issues. Issues.” A recent article in the CBC argued issues of sound ecology will be successfully Personally, I love noisy sound; I just like that the problem is reaching “epidemic addressed, but rather through increased The first piece was composed by Christopher it quiet. But then, I might be the most proportions.” listening. Scott Smallwood’s closing Ariza, metalloidesque electronico-clankered for sound-sensitive, hyper-acusis-inflicted thoughts in one of our email exchanges two percussionists and computer, and person I know. I am protective of my In a recent conversation, after making about the incident demonstrates this idea was performed by Ensemble Surplus and ears. So I avoid extremely loud shows clear how deeply he regrets his actions beautifully, I think: NeXT Ens. The opening of the piece was and carry around earplugs. I do regret the on the night of the concert in question, very peaceful, with microscopic sound and amazing performances that I miss out on the unplugger made several constructive In any case, what happened minor movements by the performers. The because I can’t take the volume, or pieces suggestions about how the creation of new happened. I think this might best small musical gestures moved very slowly, that I hear a modified, muffled version of protocols might address this contentious be summed up by ’s but also gave way to huge dynamic changes through my earplugs. But mostly, it hurts issue. Performers could mix in front of comment to me, when I asked her within a very static musical form. The my sensibilities that we are shouting at one speakers, giving them access to the sound what she said to (the unplugger) metallic sounds by percussion and computer another. I don’t want a silenced world, but level in the space as the audience will that night at the concert, after he had similar timbral characters and sounded I am also a bit of an underdog lover—I experience it. Decibel readings could be pulled the plug. She said, “I just well with the delay characteristics of the sympathize with the small, and would like made at rehearsals, and earplugs could be listened.” room. The continuous development of to argue for creating the space for sounds made available to the audience. To these, musical elements was impressive gestures of all sizes. I would add that the expected sound levels until the end. of concerts could be made a standard part of event publicity. I thought the second piece, Ronald

45 46 array ICMC 2006 Reviews Carmen Caruso 2007/2008 Parks’s Afterimage 7 for flute, violin, cello, with microtonal pitches and moving it did not feel that long for the listeners. stood alone and also mixed together piano, percussion and computer, was the tones. The tape part sounded like flowing later with various development. Lower best piece in this concert. It also got very sustained grains and micro-sonic sound. The fifth piece, Luna for saxophone and frequency pulse sounds appeared toward impressive feedback from the audience. The instrumental part was rather like a tape, was by American composer Lou Bunk. the end and filled the lower frequency Flute, piano, and cello were grouped in a solo piece, and tape part was working as The program note was very short without spectrum effectively. Another typical bell- sustained timbral sound with percussion. an accompaniment throughout the piece. any musical or technical explanation. I like metallic sound pulled the power up to Flutes have an excellent rule as a typical Curiously, the solo instrument and tape was am guessing that the topic was the moon. make a nice matching ending. jazz instrument. Parks’s musical idea in this just ended without any particular musical The saxophonist stood on stage with two piece was an improvisational jazz style with attempt. It is hard to say what is a good stands, a microphone and headphones. The last piece was Nebulae for harp and a walking bass for the rhythmic pulse and example of traditional instrumentation The opening was a deconstructed musical computer by Stephen Taylor. The musical sustaining washes of sound with the piano and computer music. We just continuously gesture with various unsettled pitches. intent of this piece seems to be to extend and metallic percussion instruments. Those need to try to make various musical events The form of the piece was rather diffuse the instrumentation beyond idiomatic two musical elements were alternated from for every kind of musical gesture with without settling in any particular form. The musical expression by using various the opening and toward the middle, until traditional instruments. Only this kind dynamic range of the saxophone and tape extended techniques. The opening gesture at the end the opposing forces mixed both of attempt will expand the new language seemed constrained, but the saxophone of plucking the string was impressive. The horizontally and vertically. The interaction of musical expression with music and sound flowed naturally and the tape part placement of the microphone covered the of the computer with the musical elements technology. I am also looking forward to never took over the instrument part. The weakness of the amplitude of sustained was more active than the vertical musical hearing more combinations of various function of the accompaniment in the tape notes, but it also brought out note attacks. elements. The action of the ending traditional sound and instruments with was effective and there were two parts that The harp part may have blended better happened without any warning, but it technology at future conferences. had a similar variation in timbre with micro- with the electronics if the microphone had seemed very natural and effective. sonic development. The performance was been slightly further away, but overall the The fourth piece, balanfo for tape, was smooth and attractive and the technology acoustic instrument and electronics blended One of the noticeable themes of this 2006 composed by Austrian composer Daniel was unobtrusive, except that the page- well and brought a calm and harmonized conference was the Korean composers’ Blinkhorn and lasted almost 15 minutes. turning noise made by the performer was end to the concert. works that were composed for traditional This tape piece used very natural sound rather distracting in very calm musical Korean instruments. It is an encouraging material with wood, cracking wood, moments. attempt to combine traditional music and wooden instruments, the natural voice Concert XII, Friday, 10 November new computer music with constructive of Guinean, etc. Two-thirds of the piece The sixth piece, Vague Speech for tape 11:00am, Dixon Hall technology. In this concert, Parang by consisted of wooden sounds with very composed by American composer Daniel by Carmen Caruso Korean composer Su Jin Ko was a piece natural sound effects and wide dynamic Zajicek, started with a characteristic bell- for the traditional Korean instrument level changes. Toward the end, a voice like metallic sound. The entire piece When I came into Dixon Hall that Haegum and tape. A Haegum is a major sound came in. The natural voice was not sounded like timbral variations of this morning to review a concert, I found that Asian fiddle instrument with two strings. touched by special signal processing. The metallic sound. Other granular micro-sonic Concert XII was one of the stronger sets of There are similar instruments in various sound of the voice and the natural wooden sounds moved as ascending and descending performances I’d heard at the conference. cultures (including China and ), and sounds made an intimate timbral reaction directional gestures throughout the piece. It started out with a fast-paced video piece all have a very characteristic expression together. The duration was long; however, These two musical elements sometimes called Underground by Tom Lopez. Lopez

47 48 array ICMC 2006 Reviews John Arroyo 2007/2008 used constantly moving slotted bars on the collection of vocal pops and clicks. What head. The bright orange leaf leapt off the quite effective. In the video, however, screen to capture the rhythm of subway also amazed me was their ability to sustain card and into my sonic imagination.” The the juxtaposition of old jazz footage and trains. Sometimes the bars would even interest throughout a 20-minute piece. introduction of his piece also reminds me bubbles was not as effective. Unfortunately, contain video of the underground itself. To me, this was a very difficult task in a of drawing an explosion of sound out from the sound textures were not rich enough to The music also had a steady rhythmic concert setting, and they really pulled this underneath its cover. This segues into a sustain long-term enjoyment and the piece component, becoming more frenzied at piece off well. Part of the reason for this series of electronic chirps that reminded me failed to ever take off. the end. The one thing I wished more was the vocal performance. Hewitt took the of crickets, grasshoppers, and frogs. These from this piece was that music and video visual role of a lead singer (albeit not in the quiet chirps are taken over by a building Lametta by Ewan Stefani began with a were more closely connected at the end. As traditional sense) on stage as she moved the harmonious ambient texture, which also somewhat cliché intro, then soon became the music got more and more turbulent, eMic (a mic stand controller) around her brings in touches of cello, organ, and the interesting. The composition incorporated the video didn’t completely follow suit. to create different sonic textures, providing chimes played earlier, resolving the piece field recordings of children and animals as However, overall, the idea was very unique a strong focal point for the audience. I did nicely, and bringing a wonderful concert to well as other sounds like bells. The piece and I enjoyed this piece very much. feel, however, that a morning concert was a close. expertly incorporated rhythm, including not the best setting for this piece; it would a great bass drum sound. Mr. Stefani Annie Mahtani’s piece, Cidade Maravilhosa, haven been much more suited to an evening managed to pull off the piece without was very suggestive, with electronic or even a late-night concert. Concert XIV: Friday, 10 November overdoing it. He maintained a nice balance whooshes and clicks that suggested 8:00pm, Dixon Hall between subtleties and full audio texture. waves, reverberant chimes, and even Charles Nichols’s The Blue Box was by John Arroyo cicadas. Natural field recordings are also unfortunately stunted by the fact that the Torrid Mix: featuring Jazzy King and Master incorporated into the sound, including dance element was missing from the piece. This concert, in my opinion, was one of L.T. by Mike McFerron was a piece for Brazilian chanting and chirping tropical The piece was designed to use a motion- the finest of the conference. There was piano and tape. The sound texture of the birds. If I closed my eyes (easy to do in capture system with a dancer to create an eclectic mix of styles and presentations. piece used gibberish talking, clangs, and a dark hall), I felt transported to some an interaction between computer and Above all, the quality was rather high and banging pipes, erupting into a powerful exotic land. The piece also had a very dancer, and in turn project the interactive consistent. Many of my favorite pieces crescendo near the end. The vocals of ambient texture underlying these accent animation of the computer on the screen. from ICMC 2006 were in this concert. the piece were very effective; however, the sounds, which gave it an almost foreboding Thus, because there was no interactive live dialogue between the piano and electronics element. performance, only video, this piece really The night began with the piece American was often disconnected. Although the lost one of its core elements, leaving me Dreamscape by Steven Ricks. It is a piece for piece was good, it needed more unity. I The next piece, Nodule, was very interesting. unable to write a comprehensive review of saxophone and video with plenty of free found that each part was more effective on Donna Hewitt and Julian Knowles moved this piece. jazz interludes. There was heavy use of its own rather than together. the concert toward a more secular vein, sounds whirling around the speaker array. which was refreshing. Hewitt’s voice Paul Rudy’s November Sycamore Leaf starts with In the middle of the piece was some staccato Under the Sea by Chien-Wen Cheng provided some very interesting rhythmic an unveiling of chimes. Rudy describes the sax work, which served to divide the piece incorporated some very beautiful sounds. vocal percussion. Towards the end, the piece piece as inspired by a particular Christmas nicely. It played out like the unfolding of They were rich and inviting, but they never reminded me of IDM (Intelligent Dance card: “The moment I slid the card out of a classic jazz piece. The fading between came together as a composition. The Music) with its building complex rhythmic the envelope sound literally exploded in my the video and performer was simple yet sounds were too sporadic to get the listener

49 50 array ICMC 2006 Reviews Noah Keesecker 2007/2008 to become engaged in them. I felt as though one of the best pieces of the week. were detrimental to the performance. The juxtaposition of the absent musicians. The the piece was very close to becoming fully melody is effective only part of the time. interspersion of gestural and rhythmic engaging, but failed to coalesce in the end. Erwin’s Playground by Fishman Rajmil was a It incorporated some neat sounds, but the percussion against the more depictive use tape piece with some great sounds. These plucked string sounds (possibly a clavichord) of a distant creaking ship noise and residual Secret Pulse by Zack Browning followed and start out sounding like a metallic jungle. were timbrally weak. The composition was processing effects actually served to create was performed by the NeXT Ensemble. Later, it sounds like insects running around good, but it falls short in its realization. a dynamic space that was not at all devoid This composition was definitely one of on a tin roof. At times, the passages are of a human touch. Similarly, the contrast the highlights of the week! It began very too long, even teetering on self-indulgence. The concert had many great moments and between atmospheric and localized sounds powerfully, with all of the members of the The excellent sounds, however, are not truly was one of my favorite of the week. accentuated the “missing” performers in a ensemble engaged. The whole piece had quite interesting enough on their own to Secret Pulse and Circles and Rounds were way that pulled the listener into a different a great interplay of the electronics and hold your attention for the whole 9 minutes standouts of the night. All of the pieces contextual dialogue between audience, the performers. The cello’s reinforcement of the piece’s duration. in this concert, even the pieces above performer and machine, as well as ideas of of the electronic part was brilliantly that were criticized negatively, were good live performance works compressed into syncopated. Sounds seemed to flutter in Substitute Judgement + Metal Catalogue by compositions. fixed media format. This was most likely and out of the sound texture. The rhythm Jeffrey Treviño was a piece for video and not the composer’s intent, but it was an of the piece was beautiful and avoided percussion. This was a very unique use of intriguing artifact nonetheless. common rhythmic pitfalls and clichés. video. The video was rear projected onto 4 Concert XVI:Saturday, 11 November Overall, there was an excellent synergy round disks that look like a cross between an 1:30pm, McAllister Auditorium The grouping of the first three pieces of the between the performers and the electronics art installation and an instrument. Three by Noah Keesecker concert also served to accentuate notions that eluded many of the ICMC works. of the disks were translucent, the fourth of “presence.” Mark Applebaum’s John was opaque (metal). Percussionist Ross The Saturday afternoon concert (XVI) Oswald-esque Plundergraphic performed/ Circles and Rounds by Dennis Miller was a Karre and the video were very engaging. proved to be one of the more diverse piloted by Guys w/ Big Cars tackled a vast tape piece with video. The first thing to Occasionally the video was too bright, and collections of works during the conference. and intricate onslaught of sounds that came mention is the beautiful visuals. The video watching it hurt your eyes. I felt that the The focus on electronic works with live across as both wonderfully chaotic as well accompanying the music was great, non- live drums should have been complimented musicians always adds a welcome physicality as sonically relevant in a most peculiar way. representational and quite exquisite. It by the use of electronic drums (either to any conference, and The slightly alienating disconnect between began with abstract shapes resembling triggered or sequenced). Overall it’s a cool this concert certainly had its fair share of the dry acoustic material—particularly aquatic plants in outer space. The shapes piece, very artistic and creative. It would corporeal performances. the subtleness of the piano—and the morphed and grew a brilliant texture of be great to see more works in this vein in diffusion work kept the piece on its toes, fur. There was a great fusion of sound the future. Oddly enough, the first piece of the concert, but in the end left something to be desired and image. Later in the piece some plant Multiplication Virtuelle by Mei-Fang Lin, was structurally. On a macro level, the work and water 3-D spirals moved around and Finishing the concert was Juggernaut by intended for percussion and computer, felt like something more complex than morphed from organic shapes into a rigid Paul Oehlers, a cello and tape piece. The but was instead represented by a recorded could be appreciated in a single listening. spaceship-like object. The video definitely juxtaposed classical playing and harsh performance. The documentary quality steals the show, but the sound is still strong noises doesn’t work for me most of the of the recording (complete with applause The third piece that helped to culminate enough to hold up on its own. This was time. Perhaps the room acoustics or micing at the end) lent an interesting performance this strikingly distinct trio of opening works

51 52 array ICMC 2006 Reviews James Harley 2007/2008 was Eric Lyon’s Introduction and Allegro. This trends in sectionalized structure and Javier Garavaglia’s enigmatic NINTH Batons autographed by (just work was both intriguing and confounding compartmentalized sound. The seemingly for viola and tape was the endurance kidding on that last one!). at the same time. The pervasiveness of vertical windows of sound were coupled champion of the concert. The strength an overtly ironic wit behind what could with spatialization that was visual, yet not and determination of the long gestures and The show got going with a dance piece, potentially be described as a type of neo- as dynamic as one would have expected. noise elements outside of the harmonic Transparent Body, featuring Rebecca Lazier classical-post-modern circus betrayed any However, this conflict or joining of ideas material allowed the performer to stretch along with composer Dan Trueman playing air of stuffiness. Yet the stark referential between transport and stasis rounded out out into a more rich and expressive realm. his e-violin through his custom-built character of the sectionalized structure the first half of the concert subtly. hemispherical speakers. The choreography and tongue-in-cheek “beats” compared to The concert was concluded with J. Anthony was very well done, and the music was fine, traditional chamber ensemble practice as The second half of the concert felt as Allen’s frenetic and rhythmically driven if somewhat unengaging, at least for me. well as orchestral hat-tipping (was there a though it was still recovering from the Saturations III-C. This work, choreographed ghost of Respighi present?) did not allow first. I understand, sort of for saxophone by Barbara Hayley, felt like a quiet riot of Howard Kenty’s Spider followed. This for a clear understanding of the topics at and tape by Brian Willkie gave a fitting tenuously bound music that pulled the electroacoustic piece was built on hand. The pastiche quality of traditional impression of the title. The textural and listener forward as much as the refreshingly pulsations derived from physical modeling instrumental techniques of tremolo and ambient quality of the work, coupled with clear beats pushed the boundary between instruments, with various spatial and coloristic pairings against deliberately (?) the distinctiveness of the very physical and dance music and art music. timbral trajectories spinning webs around alienating electronic elements such as the recognizable sound of the anvil, explored us. It was also… short. Bravo! stiff vibrato or pointed tertiary harmonic an area of interaction that was minutely progressions, dashed together with changing and slowly organic. Similarly, Rodney Waschka, brave soul that he is, minimalism, Americana and impressionistic Firmament by Hyejung Yoon for bassoon Concert XVII:Saturday, 11November found a way to harness the dangerously swaths of material was almost too much to and computer felt equally reserved and 8:00pm, Dixon Hall manic energy of the Convolution Brothers digest. However, it was packaged so neatly nuanced in a way that perhaps suffered a by James Harley (Cort Lippe, Zack Settel, ) and so openly that it was difficult not to be bit due to the performance space. Both by way of paying tribute to the equally constantly engaged by the music. Certainly works felt like they were reaching for Concert seventeen—the last one. Phew! dangerous Jerry Hunt. Keeping the Core Pure: the work was enjoyable on the surface. small, intimate sonic spaces that invited a The audience had dwindled a bit, but In Memory of Jerry Hunt was good fun, and More importantly, it raises a number of personal, introverted contemplation. those who were there were enthusiastic, I suspect that Mr. Waschka succeeded so deeper aesthetic questions, but leaves the either punch-drunk from over-stimulation, well in this performance because he is taller answers to the listener. Consort for One by Kristina Wolfe, on the or rested from having already taken a than the other guys. other hand, came across as refreshingly break from the relentless six-day schedule. The final work of the first half, James crisp, despite the technical complications. (Sightings of ICMC attendees lurking Butch Rovan’s Hopper Confessions: Room in Brody’s transport for tape, felt distant in The choice to allow the natural beauty of about Bourbon Street over in the French Brooklyn, for interactive cello and video, comparison to the previous works. This the viola de Gamba to dominate the space, Quarter had been reported.) The evening’s required a re-start, but was otherwise was in no way due to a lack of quality, but as well as the simple yet sinewy lines, spoke festivities began with a wild splurge of an interesting, complex work drawing the sudden contrast of the performance volumes in favor of a humanistic and freebies tossed out into the clamoring inspiration from a poem by Anne Carson space. Brody’s work actually complimented thoroughly musical expression. crowd by conference organizer Tae Hong that refers, among other things, to a some of the previously mentioned Park: cool software, t-shirts, and Radio painting by Edward Hopper. The video

53 54 array ICMC 2006 Reviews Iowain Thomas 2007/2008 included bits of text and images taking off consistency of the instrument’s timbre is from the Hopper. well complemented by the Protean world ICMC 2007 Reviews of disembodied sound, while the unusual Manuel Rocha Iturbide’s recorded work Aalborg University Esbjerg, constraints of the instrument itself can give Purusha-Prakrti, produced in Bourges, Copenhagen, Denmark direction to an electroacoustic composition makes use of a number of noisy sources, in fascinating ways. both natural and electronic. I particularly enjoyed the fine transitions across the rich, Monday, 27 August In some sense, Chowning’s compositions sustained textures. 17:00, PLEX Music Theatre on the program—particularly Stria—reflect by Iowain Thomas a similar dichotomy between instrumental Members of Cincinnati’s NeXT Ens constraint and inventive freedom. After 30 convened once again for Yu-Chung There could be no doubt that the concert years, Stria still astounds with its depth of Tseng’s Reminiscence of Pipa for flute, was hot. An overflow crowd pressed exploration of a rigorously limited terrain. percussion, and recorded sounds. Inspired forward, brandishing their hand-printed To elicit such musical range and force by a Tang Dynasty-era poem, this was tickets at the bottom of the stairs leading from a single compact harmonic/timbral dramatic music. The composer showed a to an elegant, steeply raked hall, where structure and a single synthesis technique is definite flair for the flute and percussion the temperature hovered around 30 no mean feat! Likewise, in Voices, Chowning instruments. I otherwise found the music degrees Celsius (hotter at the top). The relies on a simple event-driven score- pretty predictable. less fortunate remained cooler in the following model and a well-chosen palette cafe outside, speaking animatedly about of timbres and techniques. He treats the Jacob Rundall’s This too shall pass… is an (we may assume) the concert they were voice with dignity in elegant, almost bel electroacoustic work based on analyses of missing. canto vocal lines that leave ample room for bell and cymbal sounds. The music didn’t nuanced interpretation. The imaginative make much of an impression on me; I The overall form of the concert was (in room he finds within these boundaries suppose it “passed” a bit too easily. It’s all pseudo-American parlance) a double- vastly exceeds that of most works that are been done before, I suppose. decker Chowning sandwich on harp more technologically profligate. bread. This programming choice was The concert concluded with an updated both practical (the harp parts were Either it was the digital reconstruction of remix of ’s mega-hit from substantial, so consecutive performances the work by Olivier Baudouin and Kevin the early 1980s, O Superman. Joshua would have been unkind at best) and Dahan, or else it was the Princeton Sound Clausen was joined by a couple of his refreshing. Lab’s 3-D rendering of its spectrograph, (uncredited) colleagues from Minneapolis but this writer heard elements in Stria that to perform live with their laptops. They The combination of harp and electronics, he had never noticed before, despite years got a nice groove going, and the video was while by no means novel, is nevertheless of engagement with the work. The creators cool, too. Imagine, tributes to Laurie and unusual. This is a pity. The relative of the spectrograph video may have been Jerry, all in one program! more entrenched in video game culture than

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