Here are some videos of the Modified Toy Orchestra:
About/feature:
Modified Toy Orchestra from Edwin Lee on Vimeo.
Teaser/taste:
Modified Toy Orchestra – Future Of Sound Taster from Illustrious Company on Vimeo.
Performing “Black Star”:
Black Star from cat weasel on Vimeo.
I finally found a video of Christian Blom’s “Al-Khowarizmis Mechanical Orchestra”.
It can be viewed here.
Yesterday I sat an hour on a tram, listening to the work “Hum of the Tram” made by Siri Austeen.
Info folder handed out on the tram:
The tram was rigged with microphones by the public adress system, the wheels, the motor, the brakes, etc. This sound was recorded, manipulated and played back through speakers that were placed around the tram. It came across as an enhanced auditive tram experience, taking what was there and refining it. I do not agree with all the choices the performer took, I found for instance some of the vocal overlays that she did a bit on the tacky side, but that’s mostly a subjective matter.
Unfortunately I didn’t have anything other than my mobile phone to record with, but here are a couple of snippets from the ride:
A couple of days ago I attended a collection of performances and concerts, sewn together by INTERINTERINTER as guides and performers. There were a couple of high points, as well as some typical low points. One of the high points was the program:
The program was printed in stages (first red, then blue, then yellow) live using screen printing. The red and blue was printed before the concerts started, the yellow at a later stage. Unfortunately I had to leave before the last parts of the printing.
Before coming back to INTERINTERINTER let me first mention Christian Blom’s “al-khowarizmis mekaniske orkester” (al-khowarizmi’s mechanical orchestra), a wonderful contraption:
The orchestra was populated by several bells, a string controlled by a motor and a guitar vibrating thingy, a tin can and some lights. You activated the orchestra by pressing a push button that set in motion movement that generated sound/music. When it finished playing its piece, a lamp lit up by the push button, inviting further use. A nifty little thing.
Now, INTERINTERINTER did a couple of performances, something I’m usually quite skeptical about, but which I had no need to be this time. Both were intelligent comments on the nature of modern music:
First David Helbich’s “Vorspiel” (video from another event):
and Matthew Shlomowitz’s “When is a door not a door?” (excerpts from another event):
The Original Recording…
Interpreted through dance:
Visited by Residuum using synthetic voice and space:
Some inspiration gleaned from the presentations on Monday at the Nordes conference Engaging Artifacts:
touched echo from Markus Kison on Vimeo.
This is a nice physical representation of digital information. I also find the sound of the moving wooden pegs quite satisfying. It draws your attention, making you want to investigate, as well as creates a nice extra dimension to the experience. Only wish I could experience it live..