The Transbay Creative Music Calendar OCTOBER 2011
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the Creativetransbay Music Calendar 3111 Deakin St., Berkeley, CA 94705 the transbay Creative Music Calendar OCTOBER 2011 CONCERT REVIEW BY AMAR CHAUDHARY / CATSYNTH | AUGUST 5 Outsound Music Summit: Sonic Foundry Too! The final concert of this year’s Outsound Music with his own percussion. the tube. The effect was like pouring water, Summit brought together various inventors of and it seems that the timbre from the bottles new musical instruments under the banner What ensued was a tight rhythmic drum duet, on the suit were matching it at times. Marsh “Sonic Foundry Too!” Rather than each inven- which reminded me a bit of Japanese drum- increased his motion in the suit, set against tor simply presenting his or her work, they per- ming. Gradually, Hopkin’s drum sounds grew a variety of environmental sounds from formed as pairs. The pairings were selected for more electronic, but the strong rhythm persist- Hutchinson such as water, fire, air and musical congruity and brought together people ed. Michalak then tossed a couple of the LEDs animal sounds. Eventually he got up and who may have never performed together into the audience and transitioned to playing a started to dance, moving the arms of the before. As such, this was truly “experimental gamelan-like instrument made of metal plates suit in fan patterns, with noisier sounds from music”, with the outcomes uncertain until they and which produced a bell-like sound. The both performers. unfolded on stage. strong rhythm faded into an ethereal mix of bell and chime sounds. There were several The following set featured Tom Nunn and As one would expect, the stage setup was other interesting instruments and musical Stephen Baker, with David Michalak return- quite impressive, with musical contraptions moments in the remainder of set. A keyboard ing to make a trio. The music started with large and small. instrument that looked a bit like a toy piano the sounds of scrapes and bells from mul- produced high bell and wind-chime sounds. tiple sources. some of which emanated from This large “bucky ball” was one of the more Hopkin also had an impressive clarinet-like Nunn’s instrument in which the performer October 2011 intriguing from a visual and sculptural perspec- instrument with a ribbon for continuous pitch ran large cardboard tubes over a metal tive. With the holes and vaccuum-cleaner change. sheet suspended on top of purple balloons. hoses inside, it was not immediately clear what (Did I mention that almost every night of article continued from front this was supposed to do as a musical instru- The next set featured Bob Marsh perform- the summit featured balloons?) Baker’s I had heard Kim perform on his well-crafted ment. ing with his new Sonic Suit #1 and Brenda about this thing pan (which he had mentioned during the pre- instrument with metal pegs on a tube was string instruments before – in some ways, Hutchinson with long tube and gestural concert talk) – this is the first time I had seen a particularly melodious against the brass-like they were the most “traditional” of the musical controls. We had seen Marsh’s suit in action lasagna pan used as a musical instrument in a sounds from Nunn’s sheet-metal instrument. The Transbay Creative Music Calendar is a volunteer- inventions in use during the evening in that at the Touch the Gear Expo – it is covered in formal setting. It was used to produce rhythmic The various metal sound sources played off produced free monthly journal for non-commercial they were not only shaped and constructed plastic water bottles, some of which contain scrapes, rumbles and rolling sounds that re- one another for interesting beating effects. creative new music in the San Francisco Bay similar to standard string instruments, but sound-generating materials beyond the crunch minded me of a standard snare drum. What at Area. In addition to our comprehensive listing of were played using traditional techniques of the of the bottles themselves. We have also seen Baker had several other instruments in this first sounded like a motor being used to excite upcoming events, we publish articles and reviews string family like bowing and plucking. I have Hutchinson perform with you long tubes be- theme, including a series of bowls and a the pan was later revealed to be water. Against also seen Ake’s large architecturally-inspired fore, including at the Outsound benefit dinner long metal arc, both of which contributed to about local music and the people who create it. We this were more electronic sounds, something sound-generating devices as previous Touch – in this case, it was actually a shorter version, the overall tuned metal sound. By contrast, talk about a wide range of modern music, including: that suggested a granular synthesizer and The Gear nights. Both began the set with about one-third the standard size. Michalak’s use of skatch box provided experimental, improvised, noise, electronic, free- another that sounded like a distortion pedal for bowing. Ake was slower and more deliberate noisier and more percussive sounds that jazz, outrock, 21st century compositions, and sonic a guitar. At one point, the music shifted to a se- in bringing out the timbres of the large metal filled in the space in between the long tones. art. Each month, 1,000 copies of the Transbay are ries of power chords, and a rhythm with delays elements. Kim, by contrast, was fast and vigor- Listening to the longer tones with soft details (i.e., where the echoes of the delay become mailed to individuals and hand-delivered to over 45 ous, evoking a dramatic cello solo. Ake also like beating was quite meditative at mo- part of the overall rhythm). The set concluded performance venues and public locations throughout had metal claws that he used to tap parts of ments, enhanced by the low lighting during a series of loud machine noises. the Bay Area. Contact us for a free subscription. the tower and pluck wires, as will as a large the set. It turns out to be Terry Berlier’s Percussion The final set paired Sung Kim on a bowed wire wisk for additional effects. Kim also played Ball, and is played like a hand percussion in- Walter Funk and Sasha Leitman immedi- Volunteers needed right away! cello-like instrument with Dan Ake playing a his instrument more percussively at times. The strument. The performer taps or slaps the vari- ately distinguished themselves from the giant towering contraption of poles, wires and timbres of the two instruments matched well The Transbay needs editorial and production staff, ous faces and the hoses provide resonance. previous sets in their use of electronics as metal objects. and blended at times. The structure and narra- perhaps combined in the same person. If you have tive of the performance did not blend quite as a central element. They set themselves up The first pairing featured inventions by Terry writing and digital print skills, please contact us at strongly as some of the others, though there quite minimally on either end of the stage, Berlier and Bart Hopkin. Berlier was not in at- [email protected]. were great moments where the music grew to with a lot of empty space in between. The tendance, so David Michalak was called upon a crescendo, a section of a steady plondering space was the perfect visual for the begin- to learn and perform his instruments, including Please support this work! rhythm with eighth-note bowing and strumming ning of the music, where a repeating metal the aforementioned Percussion Ball. The per- of odd-harmony chords, and a noisy section Brenda Huchinson and Bob Marsh (in Sonic Suit). sound soon revealed itself to be the sound Your kind donations help keep the Transbay alive and formance was among the musically strongest of screeching tones that resolved a major Photo: PeterBKaars.com of train. The train gradually morphed into the growing. Please send checks [payable to “Transbay of the evening. Michalak appeared from the harmony. sound of a human voice. Set against this Music Calendar”] to: wings adorned with LEDs and proceeded to Hutchinson began with slurping sounds were subtle low-frequency tones, scrap- This set concluded the evening, and the Sum- the percussion ball, which turns out to be a through the tube, accompanied by small Transbay Accounting ing metal and a steady low rumble. During mit as a whole. In a sense, it was a quiet way tuned drum. He began with a an expressive rustling and crackling sounds as Marsh began the set, Walter Funk produced a lasagna 106 Fairmount Avenue to end, without the dramatic musical finishes free rhythm exploring the different faces, which to move slowly. With the addition of electron- Oakland, CA 94610 of previous evenings. But in the sense of each became more structured as Hopkin joined in ics, one could hear strong resonances from article continued on back set being an experiment and the opportunity Information about subscription, submissions, advertis- the san francisco bay area monthly publication for Sung Kim and Dan Ake. Photo: PeterBKaars.com. to see and hear something new, it was quite a ing and archives is at transbaycalendar.org. successful conclusion. experimental/improvised/noise/electronic/freejazz/outrock/21st century transgenred music and sonic art the persistent caveat Schedules are subject to change, and the venue information reasons can be totally appalling, flying in the face of human reason. Please confirm details 784 65th St. Mills College 784 65th Street, Oakland 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland the provided in this publication by visiting transbaycalendar.org.