The San Francisco Tape Music Festival 2012

This one sent in via Brian Comnes.

This is a direct copy and paste from the mailer to preserve all links, so please excuse any formatting glitches on this one. 

January 20-22, 2012

ODC Theater

3153 17th

San Francisco

http://sfsound.org/tape/

8pm, $15 [$8 underemployed] each night

$35 festival pass

Box office: 415.863.9834 or buy tickets online

“Tape Capsule” -- The New York Times 

“Cinema for your ears.” -- SF Weekly     

“…literally surrounded by sound.” -- San Francisco Chronicle

CLICK FOR MORE »

NUMUS & EML

via vgermuse
"Here are a couple of scans. The first [bottom] scan is the cover of a vintage electronic music magazine, Numus West, the May, 1974 issue with a lead article by John Cage, "the future of music". The second scan is an advertisement in that issue of the EML 101. Enjoy!"



John Cage - Water Walk
YouTube via holotone. No synths, but I'll take advantage of the John Cage flyer to post this video. :) Love it when that happens.

"1960 on the popular TV show I've Got A Secret.

via WFMU:
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2007/04...

"At the time, Cage was teaching Experimental Composition at New York City's New School. Eight years beyond 4:33, he was (as our smoking MC informs us) the most controversial figure in the musical world at that time. His first performance on national television was originally scored to include five radios, but a union dispute on the CBS set prevented any of the radios from being plugged in to the wall. Cage gleefully smacks and tosses the radios instead of turning them on and off.

While treating Cage as something of a freak, the show also treats him fairly reverentially, cancelling the regular game show format to allow Cage the chance to perform his entire piece. "

John Cage - 4'33'' on Moog Sub 37

Published on Apr 1, 2019 Luca Di Gennaro

"Split screen cover of 4'33'' by John Cage just with a Moog Sub 37!

Keyboard: Moog Sub 37"

And the maestro himself:

John Cage performs "4:33"

Published on Dec 2, 2008 Eugène Zassadko

And an image of John Case with a Roland System 700 modular system via momento by diptyque paris

"John Cage (1912-1992) en 1978 (photo©Corinto Marianelli)"

Rehearsing JOHN CAGE - VARIATIONS VI

Rehearsing JOHN CAGE - VARIATIONS VI from Giorgio Sancristoforo on Vimeo.

For a Plurality of Sound Systems (Buchla200e, Radio, Tape Recorder, Max/MSP)
Score available at Edition Peters

The score is made of symbols printed on transparent plastic sheets,
the symbols set the number of available and possible sound systems
(a sound system is made of speakers, generators and components such as filters, modulators, amplifiers).
The symbols are dropped on a white sheet painted with a straight black line.
The axis of each symbol states whether the component or generator must change
or stand still (% of amount of change). Some changes are done manually, some other are made by control voltage. Amplification and surround pan are controlled (following the score) by max/MSP.
At a certain point the radio went outside the FM band, making just clicks and pops... :)

Recorded in binaural simulation, use headphones.

Update: The performance:

John Cage 100 Anniversary Performance: Variations VI

YouTube Published on Sep 10, 2012 by toborexperiment

"My performance of Variations VI at the John Cage Centennial Celebration
SEPT. 5th 2012 at Triennale Design Museum, Milano, Italy"

KOMA's Field Kit launched on Kickstarter!

"After a year of development, testing and prototyping, KOMA Elektronik is proud to present the latest addition to the KOMA family: the KOMA Elektronik Field Kit! On Kickstarter now! The new KOMA Elektronik Field Kit is the perfect tool for everyone who would like to experiment with electroacoustic sound. Use everyday objects, amplify them and use them to make sound, like our heroes John Cage and David Tudor used to do!

The Field Kit is optimized to process signals from microphones, contact microphones, electromagnetic pickups and able to run DC motors and solenoids. On top of that it can receive radio signals and convert signals from switches and sensors into control voltage. The Field Kit boasts 7 separate functional blocks all focussed on receiving or generating all types of signals. They are designed to operate together as a coherent electroacoustic workstation or alternatively together with other pieces of music electronics with the ability to use control voltage signals:

Four Channel Mixer
Envelope Follower
DC Interface
Analog Switch Interface
Analog Sensor Interface
AM/FM/SW Radio
Low Frequency Oscillator
You can easily interface the Field Kit with a Eurorack modular system. At the backside of the PCB you will find a power connector you can use to power the unit from your system. The total panel width is 36HP. You can buy the Field Kit as a finished unit or build one yourself with the DIY Version."



"All audio has been recorded straight from the Field Kit, using a DC Motor, Solenoid Motor, a DC powered fan, Roland TR-8 and Berlin's local radio station Antenne Brandenburg as audio sources."

Additional details via Kickstarter.

"The KOMA Field Kit

The new KOMA Elektronik Field Kit is the perfect tool for everyone who would like to experiment with electroacoustic sound. Use everyday objects, amplify them and use them to make sound, like our heroes John Cage and David Tudor used to do!

The Field Kit is optimized to process signals from microphones, contact microphones, electromagnetic pickups and able to run DC motors and solenoids. On top of that it can receive radio signals and convert signals from switches and sensors into control voltage!

We have finished development of the Field Kit, are ready for production and we need your support to make it happen!

[Pictured:] The final Field Kit prototype, ready for production!

It's all about the things you connect to the The Field Kit! To get you started we decided to offer an Expansion Pack with a bunch of different sources that you can use and connect to create your own signature sounds.

CLICK FOR MORE »

THE MUSIC OF ChAnGEs - Event Celebrating John Cage

"Our Variation VII is a program focusing on Cage's most pioneering experimental, electronic, and noise music. Starting with early works utilizing 'non-musical' objects to generate sound [ Living Room Music (1940) and Radio Music (1956) ], we move to Cage's music for amplified objects from the early 60's. These works, epitomized by Cartridge Music (1960), feature graphic scores written on transparencies arranged by performers to realize various "events" amplified with contact microphones and phonograph cartridges. Although Cage was famously opposed to improvisation, these works require musicians who can make musical decisions based on real-time listening -- a skill honed by all the sfSound players!

Balancing out the program are two acoustic works: Music For ________ (1984-87) for chamber ensemble and a new work for improvisers by sfSound's Christopher Burns.

PROGRAM

Living Room Music (1940)

household objects and voice

CLICK FOR MORE »

John Cage Paying Attention

YouTube via rasppatrol
"Narrative John Cage. If you don't know who he is look him up. Early synthesis work. from OHM dvd. Look him up and OHM dvd."
OHM on Ebay
OHM on Amazon
Look for The Early Gurus of Electronic Music - DVD and CD.

Click for more John Cage on MATRIXSYNTH

John Cage 100 Anniversary Performance: Variations VI

John Cage 100 Anniversary Performance: Variations VI from Giorgio Sancristoforo on Vimeo.

"My performance of Variations VI at the John Cage Centennial Celebration
SEPT. 5th 2012 at Triennale Design Museum, Milano, Italy

Special thanks to:

Sandro Mussida
Elio Marchesini
Alessandra Novaga
HurlaJanus Ensemble
Inkyung Hwang
Christian Schmitz
Luca Rullo
Lorenzo Villa
Staff @ Triennale di Milano"

EMS Synthi & Buchla

John Cage's 4'33" interpreted w/ Modular Synthesizer (Make Noise System)

Published on Feb 1, 2015 Salz-Peter Zucker

"The masterpiece in modern music by John Cage interpreted with a modular synthesizer system."

Win.

[John Cage] In a Landscape Transcription (vol.50) - Akihiko Matsumoto

Published on Apr 8, 2019 Akihiko Matsumoto

Transcription Session Live Series by Akihiko Matsumoto (2019 - )

Music by Akihiko Matsumoto - http://akihikomatsumoto.com
instagram - https://www.instagram.com/akihik0ma/
twitter - https://twitter.com/Akihik0MA

Concept : Akihiko Matsumoto
Operation : Akihiko Matsumoto
Programming : Akihiko Matsumoto
Sound Material : [John Cage] In a Landscape
Generative Software : Cycling '74 Max8
Binaural Decorder : IRCAM Spat
Audio I/O : RME Fireface UCX
MIDI Controller : Novation LAUNCH PAD XL
Camera : Sony a7RII(Zeiss Sonnar 55mm f1.8)

Original Max for Live Plugins
http://akihikomatsumoto.com/download/

John Cage 100 Anniversary Performance: Variations VI

YouTube Published on Sep 10, 2012 by toborexperiment

"My performance of Variations VI at the John Cage Centennial Celebration
SEPT. 5th 2012 at Triennale Design Museum, Milano, Italy"

Follow-up to this post on the rehearsal for the performance.

The Merce Cunningham Dance Company’s Variations V

Variations V (1966) - Merce Cunningham Dance Company Published on Oct 14, 2013

"Merce Cunningham
1966, 49:05, b&w, sound

First composed and performed in 1965, 'Variations V' is a true testament to 1960's experiments with "intermedia"—a coexistence and cutting across of artistic genres that profoundly informed Cunningham's choreographic practice. Video is materially integrated into the performance, with projections by Stan VanDerBeek and overlaid TV distortions by Nam June Paik enveloping the dancers. Twelve sound-sensitive electronic poles dot the stage; sound is triggered by the dancers' movements and then altered or delayed by the musicians. 'Variations V' predates Cunningham's 'video-dances,' demonstrating a different moment in his relation to the technology.

MUSICIANS John Cage 'Variations V'
DANCERS Merce Cunningham, Carolyn Brown, Barbara Lloyd, Sandra Neels, Albert Reid, Peter Saul, Gus Solomons Jr.

© 2013 Merce Cunningham Trust. All rights reserved."

via @moogmusicinc

"On this date in 1965: Bob Moog collaborated with John Cage, Nam June Paik, and others on The Merce Cunningham Dance Company’s visual, sonic, and kinetic happening Variations V."

the noise of silence _ tribute to john cage

Published on Oct 7, 2012 by pianoloft

"'the noise of silence' is a cardboard-sculpture with a lot of old tapes, which i builed at the wabi-sabi pavillion. ( http://wabi-sabi-pavillion.blogspot.co.at/ ). there is music captured by the tapes, but in that case the music is silent _ one can see the tapes, but it´s impossibl to hear the contents. it´s dedicated to one of my favorite composers - john cage, whose works have much to do with silence.
the music i did for the video was realised with rota-synth by trax, connected to sherman filterbank, a korg er1 with geigercounter by wmd, roland gaia synth and a piano."

The agressive bass is the Trax processed through the Sherman Filterbank. Background arp is the Gaia.

Sorrell Hays, Doris Hays & Delia Derbyshire

Update3 8/27/13: We have confirmation from Sorrell Hays herself.  It indeed was her that composed Doris Hays - Scared Trip [1971] in the video below and not Delia Derbyshire.  It was composed using the Buchla 101 keyboard pictured below. I'll see if I can get the WikiDelia article mentioning Delia updated. As a side note, for those on Facebook there's some conversation going on regarding this post here. Laurie Spiegel chimed in as well.

Start of original post before we had confirmation from Sorrell Hays:

This post can be a little confusing, so I thought I'd try and clear it up front.  I spotted this post on It's Full of Stars on Sorell Hays, an electronic artist that used a Buchla keyboard.  I clicked through the link in the post and found that the video directly below wasn't actually by Sorrell Hays, but by Delia Derbyshire.  Apparently Delia produced the tracks under the pseudonym Doris Hays.  The real Doris Hays went by Sorrell Hays and is pictured further below.  I have no idea if there was a connection between the two or if it was all just coincidence, but there you have it.

Update1 via eben in the comments: "hi Matrix thanks for reposting. it is quite a confusing situation! did you see the original post over on toys&techniques from a while back? it seems to suggest that the tracks on the Southern LP 'electronic music' might actually be sorrel and NOT delia - see also the comments to the post:

http://toysandtechniques.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/sorrel-hays.html

to me it sounds more buchla than ems!

its all very intriguing..."

Doris Hays - Scared Trip [1971]

Uploaded on May 21, 2011 TheCoffeeShopShop·2,525 videos
Re-Published on Nov 21, 2014 Doris Hays - Topic

I'm guessing this is a mix of tape and EMS based on the year.  Click here for more posts featuring Delia and EMS at the time.

via WikiDelia: "It is claimed that in 1971 Delia produced 14 tracks of electronic music for the British record label Southern Library of Recorded Music, published as Electronic Music with catalogue number MQ/LP 38[1] under the pseudonym Doris Hays.[2] The other four track on the album are credited to John Matthews, claimed to be John Baker[1] and included on the album 'The John Baker Tapes'."

There is a real Doris Hays who is also a electronic and musique concrète composer, also active in 1971, born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1941.[3]"

Pictured here is Doris Hays [not Delia] who went by Sorrel Hays.  Via her last.fm site: "Sorrel Hays was born Doris Hays in Memphis, Tennessee, but being a “sound” person she decided that “Sorrel” sings (her maternal grandmother’s family name was Sorrels) so in 1985 she adopted the name Sorrel.

In 1971 Hays won first prize at the Gaudeamus Competition for Interpreters of New Music in Rotterdam, and began her international career as a performer of contemporary music. She performed concerts at broadcasting stations in Germany, Holland, Italy and Yugoslavia, appeared at the Como Festival and Pro Musica Nova Bremen, and was invited to celebrate John Cage’s 60th birthday by performing his Concerto for Prepared Piano and Orchestra with the Orchestra at the Hague. She gave the first performance in Europe of her own music at the Gaudeamus Composers Week in Holland in 1972, a composition called Hands and Lights for piano strings with photocell activated switches and flashlights beamed across the interior of a grand piano, a composition which she later performed for the Chattanooga Debutante Cotton Ball.

During 1989-1990 Sorrel Hays was a resident artist at the Yamaha Communications and Research Center in New York City, commissioned to create music for the Yamaha MIDI Grand Piano. These pieces, 90’s, A Calendar Bracelet , for MIDI Grand and tone generator, are recorded by Loretta Goldberg on the CD “Soundbridge” from Opus One."

Buchla at 1:13: Update2: the Buchla is the 200 101 keyboard as seen in this video.

Southern Voices: A Composer's Exploration - PREVIEW

Uploaded on Jun 4, 2009 docued·648 videos

"Purchase: http://www.der.org/films/southern-voi... and on Amazon.

This documentary traces the development and premiere performance of an avant-garde symphonic work by Southern composer Sorrel Doris Hays. Commissioned by the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra, Hays' piece is based on the sounds and rhythms of Southern speech and musical traditions. It is a journey into childhood memories via the melodies and rhythms of Southern dialect. Stoney combines analysis of her work with interviews in which Hays discusses her struggle with racism and paternalism of Southern culture.

a film by George Stoney with Sorrel Doris Hays
distributed by Documentary Educational Resources"

I did a quick search on YouTube to see if I could find anything else and found the following:

Invasion of the Love Drones (1977)

Uploaded on Sep 19, 2009
Invasion of the Love Drones, 1977 sci-fi movie from Jerome Hamlin. Soundtrack by Sorrel Hays, Mike Michaels, Richard Lavsky's Music House and Barry Forgie (uncredited). Additional dialogue by Charles Flowers (uncredited).

Review & more information:
http://atagong.com/archives/2009/09/e..."

Lainhart NYC Performances October 20 and 23

A chance to see the Buchla 200e, Haken Continuum & Kyma System live.

"On Thursday, October 20 at 10PM, I'll be performing a set of new works for Buchla and Continuum at The Stone, an East Village not-for-profit performance space dedicated to the experimental and avant-garde. My performance is one of a series curated by Phill Niblock, director of Experimental Intermedia Foundation, featuring recording artists on the XI Records label. The Stone is located at the corner of Avenue and Second Street in Manhattan. For more information: http://thestonenyc.com/calendar.php

On Sunday, October 23 at 4:30PM, I'll be performing 100 x John 2, in honor of John Cage's 100th birthday year, as part of Ear To The Earth's New York Soundscape 2011 series. 100 x John 2 is for New York City environmental sounds processed with the Kyma System and activated by live electric guitar "to transform the ambient noise of Manhattan's streets and alleys into a magically lyrical sound". The performance takes place in Union Square Park at 14th Street in Manhattan as part of the Green City Challenge Race and Family Expo. For more about Soundscape 2011: http://www.eartotheearth.org/events.html

For more about Green City Challenge: http://greencitychallenge.org/

Finally, on Sunday October 23, at 10PM, I'll be back at The Stone performing as part of Phill Niblock + Guitars with Robert Poss, Byron Westbrook, and Matt Rogalsky, where we'll be playing Phill's Stosspeng for Ebow electric guitar quartet: http://thestonenyc.com/calendar.php"

Swarm Controlled Sampler - Becoming Live

Swarm Controlled Sampler - Becoming Live from Evan Merz on Vimeo.

"Becoming is an algorithmic composition program written in java, that builds upon some of John Cage’s frequently employed compositional processes. Cage often used the idea of a “gamut” in his compositions. A gamut could be a collection of musical fragments, or a collection of sounds, or a collection of instruments. Often, he would arrange the gamut visually on a graph, then use that graph to piece together the final output of a piece. Early in his career, he often used a set of rules or equations to determine how the output would relate to the graph. Around 1949, during the composition of the piano concerto, he began using chance to decide how music would be assembled from the graph and gamut.

In Becoming, I directly borrow Cage’s gamut and graph concepts; however, the software assembles music using concepts from the AI subfield of swarm intelligence. I place a number of agents on the graph and, rather than dictating their motions from a top-down rule-based approach, the music grows in a bottom-up fashion based on local decisions made by each agent. Each agent has preferences that determine their movement around the graph. These values dictate how likely the agent is to move toward food, how likely the agent is to move toward the swarm, and how likely the performer is to avoid the predator.

Buy the album: evanxmerz.bandcamp.com/

More: computermusicblog.com/blog/evan-x-merz/"

Swarm Music Album Black Allegheny

Swarm Music Album Black Allegheny from Evan Merz on Vimeo.

"In this video, I explain my new album, Black Allegheny. The album was created using algorithmic composition software that utilizes swarm intelligence. In this video, I explain how this music differs from traditionally composed music.

To listen to the album or buy it, go to evanxmerz.bandcamp.com/

For more about the composer, see computermusicblog.com/blog/evan-x-merz/"

This reminds me of Audio Damage's Automation.

Swarm Controlled Sampler - Becoming Live from Evan Merz on Vimeo.

"Becoming is an algorithmic composition program written in java, that builds upon some of John Cage’s frequently employed compositional processes. Cage often used the idea of a “gamut” in his compositions. A gamut could be a collection of musical fragments, or a collection of sounds, or a collection of instruments. Often, he would arrange the gamut visually on a graph, then use that graph to piece together the final output of a piece. Early in his career, he often used a set of rules or equations to determine how the output would relate to the graph. Around 1949, during the composition of the piano concerto, he began using chance to decide how music would be assembled from the graph and gamut.

In Becoming, I directly borrow Cage’s gamut and graph concepts; however, the software assembles music using concepts from the AI subfield of swarm intelligence. I place a number of agents on the graph and, rather than dictating their motions from a top-down rule-based approach, the music grows in a bottom-up fashion based on local decisions made by each agent. Each agent has preferences that determine their movement around the graph. These values dictate how likely the agent is to move toward food, how likely the agent is to move toward the swarm, and how likely the performer is to avoid the predator.

Buy the album: evanxmerz.bandcamp.com/

More: computermusicblog.com/blog/evan-x-merz/"

via Califaudio

Barry Schrader's The Barnum Museum CD & Vintage Buchla Performances

"After four years of composing and mastering, The Barnum Museum CD is now in production and will be released on the Innova label on September 25, 2012. This one-hour, eight-movement work is inspired by Steven Millhauser’s short story, The Barnum Museum, and is a journey into the imagination of the fantastic. There’s a new page on my site for The Barnum Museum CD, with excerpts from the notes and music from the first two tracks. I’ll be putting up samples from the other movements throughout the next two months.

On Wednesday, July 25, at 8:00 pm BST (UTC/GMT +1 hour) (3:00 pm EDT; 12:00 noon PDT), London Resonance FM will present a special one-hour program of my music from the past 35 years. This program presents the rarely-heard Moon-Wings from Moon-Whales and other Moon Songs (1982-1983), composed on the Buchla 200 analog synthesizer, and also features the premiere presentation of a ten-minute sampler from my latest work, The Barnum Museum (2009-2012). I've recorded special commentary for this program, and you can listen to this show by streaming with the link and information given here.

My recent article on John Cage, Caged, is available online on Glasschord. While the piece largely deals with Cage's work from my own perspective, it contains some interesting facts about Cage's background and influences. Glasschord is an excellent and important online magazine that covers contemporary culture and art. The complete program notes for The Barnum Museum will be presented in the October issue of Glasschord, along with a special Barnum Museum Sampler mp3 file."

"After years of work by the Iota Center, Pamela Turner, and Mark Toscano and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the experimental animation work of Adam Beckett (1950-1979) has been remastered and released on a new DVD. Included in this DVD is Heavy-Light (1973), Adam's most abstract work.
I was fortunate to be able score Heavy-Light, using one of CalArts' Buchla 200 systems, and it's great to see Adam's work restored and made available to the public. Also on this DVD is Evolution of the Red Star, with music by Carl Stone."

noyzelab Regional Arts Fellowship - Field Report 5 Featuring Rare Colorful Vintage E-Mu Modular & More

via noyzelab, where you'll find the full report:

"Included in this post is a look at some creative outcomes for my 2017/18 fellowship activities in USA and Regional NSW => Mentorship with Doug Quin and residency at Syracuse University, residency at Important Records HQ including a visit to local studio to see an ultra-rare Emu Modular, and giving workshops and working in the field/studio in regional NSW. I've included a number of soundcloud links giving excerpts of some the material I was able to record."

The synth pics are at the bottom, but be sure to check out everything leading up to them. It includes an inspiring piece on the use of field recordings for sound design, a visit to the legendary Belfer Audio Archive and Preservation Laboratory with a signed copy of John Cage's Variations I score and the book Silence, as well as a copy of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band signed by George Martin, and a visit to John Brien's Important Records in Groveland, Mass with a Serge/STS system, EML Electrocomp 101, EMS Synthi A and SCI Prophet 5.

There are quite a few pics of the E-Mu system including close-ups of the inside. Do not miss them.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Bleep's Guide to Electronic Music

This one in via Scott, via Bleep: "Bleep's guide to Electronic Music is a 55 track compilation charting the historical emergence of electronic music by looking at landmark tracks from the 1930s up to present day.

Our aim with this selection of music is to show the length and breadth of the medium, providing a snapshot of the genres forms and styles, and the development of the artform. Whilst there are omissions and compromises that we have had to make, we hope that we achieve our aims and we do some justice to the variety of music that we love.

This compilation developed out of a project to create a Facebook timeline charting the development of electronic music from the late 19th Century until now."

For reference check out 120 Years of Electronic Music

The collection begins with Olivier Messiaen's Oraison from 1937 performed on Ondes Martenot & Theremin (you can find the original full track previously posted here and a beautiful cover on Buchla 200e and Haken Continuum from the late Richard Lainhart here):

"Originally composed by Olivier Messiaen, this beautiful and contemplative piece of music is a monumental moment in electronic music. Argued to be the first piece of purely electronic music written expressly for live performance on the Ondes Martenot, an instrument closely related to the Theremin."

The collection ends with James Blake's CMYK"

"At just 21 years old, London producer, James Blake releases on newly relaunched R&S Records.

At its core 'CMYK' is forged from a myriad of 90's R&B samples (Aaliyah, Kelis) their voices mangled, barely recognisable and thrown into a red-eyed fire of DSP and hours spent in the waveforms."

The full track listing:

CLICK FOR MORE »