Showing posts sorted by date for query AnalogLive. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query AnalogLive. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Sunday, June 26, 2016
An Interview with Peter Grenader on The ZZYZX Society
The following is an interview with Peter Grenader of Electro-Acoustic Research (formally Plan b). The focus of the interview is mainly on his involvement with The ZZYZX Society, however you will find plenty of insight into gear, including some of what Peter is working on next. I want to give Peter a huge thanks for taking the time out for this.
1. To start, what is the ZZYZX Society?
"The zZyzx Society is a group of like-minded half-crazy avant-garde musicians/composers who at one time or another fell down the same sonic rabbit hole.
Discussions about this began in 2011. Jill Fraser and I tried to get something together, and the circle of people then included Richard Lainhart. Unfortunately, he passed away when we were right in the middle of talking about possibilities. This is actually when I sketched out one of my two pieces that we are currently performing: Organasm. It settled down until Jill and I ran into one another at Mort Subotnick's live performance at Redcat a couple of years ago. We saw a fire in each other's eyes - a need to return to something that we had both evolved from.
Jill and I are ancient friends. We met at CalArts in - God.... 1977. We actually performed together once with composer Gordon Mumma at CalArts and worked extensively together on Mort Subotnick's NEA project, The Game Room, in 1978. Matter of fact, the photo Mort used for the Electronic Works Vol. 1 was taken when we were doing The Game Room - Jill is the blonde and I'm the guy holding the patchord in the foreground.
What really set the wheels in motion though was a recent dinner we had for Thighpaulsandra when he visited Los Angeles a few months ago. Thigh had been speaking about wanting to do another series of performances together since we both did the AnalogLive gig at Redcat in 2007. Jill was already well into the planning stages, although it wasn't clear who would be involved at that time though oddly enough - everyone who will be was there - Jill, Chas Smith, Thighpaulsandra and myself. When Thigh left for his return trip home - the last thing he said to me was a suggestion to get some gigs going - that it will never start unless there's a date, and when you guys get a set under your belt and are comfortable with what it evolves into, that he would come out and gig with us - and that's exactly what we are doing. Well, we'e actually focusing on tracking a CD, but I'll get into that more in a bit."
2. Can you give us a little background on each member? When the world of electronic music started for each and what they've done over the years?
That's where humility sets in - with the notion that musicians of this caliber would consider me a contributor. Why? Let's start with Jill: after earning her masters in composition at CalArts studying with Mort Subotnick and Mel Powell - her first stop was where I landed: Serge's infamous Hollywood synth production facility on Western Ave. She didn't stay there long, however, because she was hired to compose electronic music by Jack Nitzsche for Paul Schrader's film, Hardcore. This began a 25 year career composing both electronic and acoustic scores for hundreds of TV commercials for huge national campaigns: BMW, Honda, Porsche, Nissan, Mitsubishi, HP, NBC, KFC, Carl's Jr., and Apple among others, and in the process won 3 Clios. She also toured with Buffy St. Marie and auditioned for The Sex Pistols - no joke.
Chas will be the only one among us who people will be speaking about in 100 years. He's also from the CalArts electronic music composition master's program and spent his early days with modulars. Until recently he owned a 12 panel serge system he had had for 30+. His legacy will be the remarkable Harry Partch-esque tuned percussion instruments he crafts. He's shifted to metals exclusively which forge these amazing soundscapes, which would take immense work to generate electronically, yet just pour out of these sculptures. Along with collaborations with Harold Budd he's been released many times as a solo artist on Cold Blue Records, MCA, and others, music for Zimmer's Man of Steal score (they actually did a special feature on Chas for that film), as well as the first two Saw films with Charlie Clouser, for Shawshank Redemption, The Horse Whispser... the list goes on.
Man Of Steel Soundtrack - Sculptural Percussion - Hans Zimmer Published on Aug 27, 2013 WaterTower Music
[Behind the Scenes creating the unique sculptural percussion sounds for the MOS Soundtrack
i-Tunes: http://smarturl.it/mos.i
Amazon: http://smarturl.it/MOSdlx_Amazon]
Not sure what planet you'd need to be on not to know where Thighaulsandra's been. Like the rest of us here, his interest in electronic music is lifelong. Stockhausen and Cage were early influences and while you clearly realize his worth in the rock idiom, his experimental roots are unavoidable. Golden Communion - which has garnered stunning reviews in Europe - gives both Gabriel and NIN a run for their money, but you also hear Stockhausen in there and in the string introduction to the title track - Elliot Carter. He began his music career on the other side of the board - as a studio engineer, and this is where he met Julian Cope, who in time introduced him to John Balance - which led to 10 very productive years as a member of Coil - during which TPS began releasing his own solo work. He is a conservatory trained pianist blessed with the birth defect of incredible ability. After Coil he was off to Spritualized for I think three years?
As for me, I am the underachiever. After CalArts and a few small film scores, and a oddly enough a planetarium show for the Griffith Observatory, I put everything down for 25 years. In the early 2000's I found music again and had really good success in the academic electronic music festival circuit. I won the Periodic Festival in Barcelona and was selected for one of the evening performances at the SEAMUS National Conference, which doesn't sound like much, but I was probably the single first-time applicant to land that right. There were 30 or so festivals in the US after that over the next two years including the AnalogLive emsemble performance at Redcat at the Disney Hall in LA with Thighpaulsandra, Chas, Gary Chang, Richard Devine and Alessandro Cortini. The start of Plan B shifted my center to manufacturing, although I was signed, and did a CD for Coda Recordings in 2013 entitled Secret Life.
What I appreciate, especially working with Jill, but it's true of all these guys... our combined experience is such that we finish each other's musical sentences. It's astonishing. Three guys in a garage band and you expect them to vamp off their combined rock tradition, right? But electronic music, are you kidding me? Jill and I started rehearsing with a piece of mine called Benghazi, which is based entirely on a single diatribe of Glenn Beck whining about the attack in Libya. The first day we did what I would call informed noodling. When we started the second day she said she had worked out some other processed bits, and they were phenomenal. It brought the concept into much higher space and with no direct guidance outside of asking for other samples from the source file so not to loose Beck's context narrative. She just got it, completely.
zZyzx Society live in Joshua Tree: BENGHAZI
3. What sort of gear will each member bring to the project? Is there a preference for any?
I can't say for Thigh, dunno yet but he's got an arsenal at his studio in Wales. Jill is primarily using a Push via Ableton and a single Serge panel designed specifically for live performance made for her by Dmitri Sfc. I can name what Chas uses, but it won't mean much as outside of a rack of loopers everything he plays he's made. So for the record it's the Rite, the Replicant and his incredible steel guitar Guitarzilla. I am primarily using my modular - eight rows of it I crammed into two road cases, and then a Roli keyboard using Equator for now, and plans for a proper sampler as the ROli software wreaks Kickstarter deadline. It's fine as a closed synth, but while they say you can import your own samples - you really can't. I had to contact them, and they wrote the code so I could add one specific sample, but are not wiling to help me do more. The keyboard itself however is incredible.
4. What is the collaboration and recording process like? Do you record together or do you pass compositions back and forth for each person to work with separately?
Recording wasn't in the original plan, but that's changed and with Chas moving to Grass Valley - and Thighpaulsandra in Wales it's just like my FB relationship status: complicated. Jill and I are going to lay basic tracks starting in two weeks. So we'll be sending multitrack to both Chas and Thigh, who will be adding to them, then returning the new stack to whomever wrote the piece to do the final mix. The process is identical for Chas and Thighpaulsandra with their works There is talk of a release deal. So... with only one gig under our belts at FUTUREWURLD in Joshua Tree, which was really well received , but still...now we're shifting to recording the four pieces we performed with small gigs during that process, although, all in much more detail than we could manifest live with our hand count. Jill's got one which is actually four individual pieces, I've got Benghazi and Organasm and Chas has Perimeter. Thighpaulsandra is in the middle of one for us now and we're discussing the possibility of rendering Subotnick's Sidewinder.
5. What do you have in your modular system when playing with ZZYZX Society?
At first I brought almost everything. I could basically empty my main cabinet into the two road cases and on top of that I brought the two side cases, but I knew this wouldn't last. After a couple of days of rehearsal when we worked on the two pieces that were modular extensive I identified what was overkill and I limited my modular system to the two road cases (see image). It's eight rows of 88hp.
In the empty space I've now installed an Animodule Midi Gate, which is a brilliant idea and one I was planning on for EAR - but the best man won on that, more power to them for that. With it in that space will be two custom modules consisting of two Sparkfun Wave Trigger boards and a little unity gain mixer. Each of the Wave Triggers will be driven by the Midi Gate. I can use individual keys on my Roli to fire of independent events. Each of these WAVE modules allow for eight polyphonic samples to be played by either the depression of a momentary switch or a gate signal with each group of eight stored on a microSD card which can be loaded on the fly. I see this as an intelligent way of performing with a modular in a live scenario. It's basically what Mort is doing now - assembling the overall sonic contour by playing prerecorded samples as required with a couple of live voices over everything. Very effective and something Mort has been talking since the days I was working with him. It took 30 years for technology to catch up with him. In my instance, I will be playing events I prerecorded on the modular.
6. Does working on music like the ZZYZX Society influence your designs, or do you keep the two worlds separate?
It's had a huge impact on this. Immediately I started thinking about a group of modules called "the live set" which would be a series of devices which would make live performance easier for a modular artist. I don't want to give anything away outside of saying the guy that developed the Wave Trigger for Sparkfun lives a few blocks from me (wink). I've also had a couple of meetings with Vince De Franco, who produces the Mandela Electric Drums whom I met through Danny Carey. If what we're discussing becomes a finished product, it will be a paradigm shift for realization of live electronic music.
7. What's next for you? You were the man behind Plan B, your designs were featured in Subconscious Communications' modules, and you are back with Electro-Acoustic Research. You recently announced the Model 41 Steiner 4P filter. Do you plan to bring back any older designs like the Milton or will you be focusing on new designs only?
The EAR modules will be a combination of new things and legacy re-releases, but none of the old ones will be brought to market now without significant improvements. Not because they were broken before, but because I see no reason to revisit something without making changes. If you go to ear-synth.com the next product up is the Model 12 Mark II. It's two M12's in one package, both fitted with the IFM Sync function found on the M41. There are all manners of interconnection possibilities as well, so that two two can be used independently, or in either serial or parallel operation off all output taps of a single signal. If you sweep to the 'Future' page there's also the Model 24 Heisenberg Mark II, which adds a new quantized output to the stepped random and three new inter-modulation/triggering options. The Model 10 Mark II could not be more different than the original. Now two voltage controllable DASR envelope generators (Delay, Attack, Sustain TIME and Release). I have also mapped out a concept for an upgraded Model 15 Complex VCO which will make it the VERY Complex VCO lol. There are as well three new modules all ready to go.
I have been working on the relaunch for four years - since cEvin and I did the Subcon license on the 15 and 37. I've been working towards it continually. The first three products are completely done with a couple of revisions of hand built SMT prototypes behind them - ready to go - I just need to email the data off to Darkplace when it's time and product will appear a couple of months after that. If you watch Thighpaulsandra's excellent Model 41 demo video - next to the M41 you will see the Model 12 Mark II mounted in his system and that's one thing I did differently this time - I skipped the breadboard stage. I now go directly to SMT PCBs with Metalphoto faceplates. This addresses all sorts of potential calamities. It forces me to concentrate on the design stage and weeds out all manufacturing hiccups before they hit the Darkplace assembly line because if there are problems there - they aren't going to pay for that - I am. As my dad used to say when he was quoting new jobs.... "I don't do this for practice".
This brings me to something I want to close on. My father went through the Plan B collapse with me. He knew how hard I had worked to get where I did and he knew all too well what I forfeited. He was a tough love guy and at times unnecessarily hard on me about it. But in the end, I did it and he knew before he passed away. I was ready for the Model 41 a year and a half ago. Darkplace had already quoted it. It could have launched then and would have had he not died. There were delays from his death that the family needed to settle. But as far dad... I built most of the prototypes on his kitchen table because the light was so much better there than on my bench at home. He saw me working on them. He saw the Darkplace quotes. The last thing he said to me was 'I love you'. Right before that - he congratulated me on getting the company back on it's feet and that I found a way to do it all on my own, and he told me how proud he was of me. After he said this, I left the hospital for the day and he died that evening at 3 in the morning. Nothing was worth the six years I went through and the problems I caused people, nothing makes my father's death bearable - but that moment came real. real close.
LABELS/MORE:
Animodule,
COA-Modular,
EAR,
exclusive,
Interviews,
Plan b,
ROLI,
Serge,
sparkfun,
Subconscious
Saturday, March 09, 2013
Scream 2007: ANALOGLIVE! Performances Now Available
via Peter Grenader:
"It gives me great pleasure - for the first time, ever and with the permission of the composers involved to upload the audio files from the live performance ANALOGLIVE, realized and recorded at the Redcat Theater - downtown Los Angeles November 16th, 2007.
In 2007, in what composer Barry Schrader termed an historic event, the annual SCREAM EAM festival hosted Analoglive!, an ensemble conglomerate of live analog electronic music with film composer Gary Chang, Nine Inch Nails keyboardist Alessandro Cortini, Richard Devine, composer and instrument designer Chas Smith, Thighpaulsandra (of Coil and Spiritualized), Peter Grenader and video artist Paul Tzanetopoulos. Analoglive exists as the only sold out show of the SCREAM Festival's 36 year run.
1) Gary Chang: Sanctuaries: Faith (2007)
http://www.ear-group.net/faith.mp3
2) Chas Smith: The Ghosts on the Windows (2007)*
http://www.ear-group.net/ghosts.mp3
3) Peter Grenader: The Secret Life of Semiconductors - Part Four (2003-2009)
http://www.ear-group.net/slocscream.mp3
[intermission]
4) Alessandro Cortini: Paris 1 (2006)
http://www.ear-group.net/paris.mp3
5) Thighpaulsandra: The Aborted Ascension Of Angel Assassins (2007)
http://www.ear-group.net/assasins.mp3
6) Richard Devine: Captract (2004)
http://www.ear-group.net/richard.mp3
You can find pics from the event here and all posts on ANALOGLIVE here.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Plan B Tour
via Califaudio where you will find the full post with more images.
Snip:
"I saw him [Peter Grenader of Plan B] put on a great show at AnalogLive last year. The man is a synth guru. We sat down in front of the modular rig at Noisebug, the exclusive US reseller of Plan B products, and Peter took me through the ins and outs of many of his synth creations.
He grabbed a fistful of cables and started plugging away, flipping switches and turning knobs to show me how to patch some wild sounds. He comes from the school of synthesis that preaches the power of subtlety. He is fascinated with the nuances of turning a knob a fraction of millimeter. He loves attenuators."
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
A Visit to Thighpaulsandra's Aeriel Studios Pt 1
YouTube via matrixysnth
This is the first video from my visit to Thighpaulsandra's Aeriel Studios. This one is piano only and it is what you see when you first enter the studio. During my visit, I asked Thighpaulsandra how he usually plays and he said he likes run acoustic instruments through his modulars and synths. I didn't have the chance to record any of this technique as I didn't discover this until later, and we had plenty of other things to explore and discuss. As this video is only piano, I thought I'd balance it with a video I put up in a prior post on Analog Live! that features some modular gear and Thighpaulsandra on piano about 3:40 minutes in. Do watch it, it's rather beautiful. As I mentioned in my previous post on Aeriel Studios, you can click on the label below to bring up all of the posts on my visit.
http://thighpaulsandra.com/ http://www.myspace.com/thighpaulsandra
Analoglive Rehearsals
Friday, February 29, 2008
Paul Tzanetopoulos' Analoglive! - Video
"Bringing together some of today’s leading composers, performers and designers for a real-time presentation of works centered around the revival of analog synthesis, Analoglive! was a concert held at the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theatre, REDCAT in Walt Disney Concert Hall, on November 16, 2007. "
click here for the full post including a video of Peter Grenader's "Part Four and Coda from 'The Secret Life of Semiconductors'" You can find previous Analoglive! posts here.
Update via Peter Grenader in the comments:
"One thing i must mention - the audio and the visual on this video are grossly out of sync. The three chords which begin this piece were sampled and I was facing the keyboard when i fired them off, which would have put my head facing Alessandro, who is perched on a platform to the left of the screen. In this vid I'm moving all over the place as they are sounding, back from/to Roland A33 to the modular (which is what I'm doing when my head's facing towards the right of the image). Also, the audio is coming off Paul's video recorder mono mic which was on stage left. You're not hearing half the sound from my synth which was coming out of the rear loudspeakers
There's Hollywod for ya."
click here for the full post including a video of Peter Grenader's "Part Four and Coda from 'The Secret Life of Semiconductors'" You can find previous Analoglive! posts here.
Update via Peter Grenader in the comments:
"One thing i must mention - the audio and the visual on this video are grossly out of sync. The three chords which begin this piece were sampled and I was facing the keyboard when i fired them off, which would have put my head facing Alessandro, who is perched on a platform to the left of the screen. In this vid I'm moving all over the place as they are sounding, back from/to Roland A33 to the modular (which is what I'm doing when my head's facing towards the right of the image). Also, the audio is coming off Paul's video recorder mono mic which was on stage left. You're not hearing half the sound from my synth which was coming out of the rear loudspeakers
There's Hollywod for ya."
Friday, December 21, 2007
Analoglive Rehearsals
YouTube via petergrenader.
"A short video taken from the final rehearsals on the afternoon of the performance. This initial upload is am mp4 conversion of DVD wide format - the image has shrunk horizontally as a result. We're not quite as skinny!" Click here for previous posts on Analog Live!
Monday, November 26, 2007
AnalogLive! Audio - The Secret Life of Semiconductors
"The Analoglive performance of The Secret Life of Semiconductors starts with Chas Smith fading in a high E maj triad his steel guitar using a small piece of glass to bow the strings in a sustinuto coloratura style which builds in intensity through the three massive E maj chords that follow. These first events give way to the start of the rhythmic stanza, which consists of the slow build of seven live voices from my synth (four of which were midi controlled and begin immediatly, and three others which fade in shortly afterward)."
Click here for the rest of Peter Grenader's (of Plan B and Buzzclick-Music) notes as well as a link to the recording.
Pictured: "Peter Grenader during performance of The Secret Life of Semiconductors"
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Thighpaulsandra on Scream 2007: AnalogLive!
Thighpaulsandra sent the following to the Plan B list regarding his performance. I asked him if I could put it up here, and he was kind enough to give me the ok. Enjoy.
"Here's my take on my piece for Analog Live. As with much of my material truly live performance is very difficult. I have no problem with that. Some things sound better sequenced (ask T Dream) and if I can get a computer to do all my patch changes too then I can concentrate on playing. On this occasion I opted for some written material, some improvised and some sequenced. Like Peter, I too recreated some of the more module intensive events from samples of the original work. One particular three second event would have involved the use of 24 modules and some very precise tuning. As this was clearly impractical for the purposes of this show I opted to replay a sample of that event. Another sample was the use of four VCOs and four Serge Waveform Multipliers for the opening drone. As Virgin Atlantic have pretty tight baggage restrictions these days I was unable to bring my whole Serge system from the UK for this show. I played as much of the score as was possible and practical and if you noticed I always had my hands full.
As Peter mentioned [on the Plan B list] the piano was a Steinway. The piano was micd with two AKG 414s. The original score had the piano ring modulated by two Synton Fenix ring mods. In rehearsal we tried to recreate this but the ring modulators seemed to add to the monitor feedback problems from the piano so I opted to leave the piano untreated. The rest of the gear for the show was as follows:
-Waldorf Microwave - used for bass sequences, and the long chords in sections 2 and 8. This also provided the filtered chords in the improvised middle section.
EMS Synthi AKS - used for effects in sections 2 and 8
Custom EH 16 sec delay - used to reverse and pitch change the EMS in the above sections
Nord Modular - Added sharp attacks to Moog bass notes in section 4
Aries Modular - (kindly lent by Roger Cordell at Big City Music) used to recreate the two
ARP 2600s from the original score. I was seriously impressed with this synth. I checked the tuning on my strobe tuner the day before the show and it seemed very stable. Five minutes before the show I checked it again and was pleasantly surprised to find that all four VCOs were rock solid.
Moog Voyager - (thanks again to Roger Cordell) used for fast intro sequences in section 1, bass in section 4 and the nasal solo I played in section 6.
Serge Modular - (thanks to Chris Pitman) used for Peter's SLOS
Kenton Pro4 - Midi - CV convertor used to run the Aries
Doepfer and Fatar midi controllers - (kindly lent by Analogue Haven) used to control the
Waldorf and Nord in both my piece and Alessandro's.
Apple Macbook with MOTU midi and audio interfaces - played samples via NI Kontakt,
sequenced the onstage synths and provided large visual cues (because I'm almost blind) via MOTU Digital Performer for sections 2 and 8.
During my piece Gary added various Roland textures throughout but particularly amazing bell-like textures in sections 2 and 8. Peter added more to the chordal sections and descending tones on my Moog solo.
Alessandro added some great French Connection/EAR to the chordal sections and evolving Buchla to the improvised section 5.
Chas played steel on the chordal sections and bowed his waterphone device in section 5.
Thighp"
"Here's my take on my piece for Analog Live. As with much of my material truly live performance is very difficult. I have no problem with that. Some things sound better sequenced (ask T Dream) and if I can get a computer to do all my patch changes too then I can concentrate on playing. On this occasion I opted for some written material, some improvised and some sequenced. Like Peter, I too recreated some of the more module intensive events from samples of the original work. One particular three second event would have involved the use of 24 modules and some very precise tuning. As this was clearly impractical for the purposes of this show I opted to replay a sample of that event. Another sample was the use of four VCOs and four Serge Waveform Multipliers for the opening drone. As Virgin Atlantic have pretty tight baggage restrictions these days I was unable to bring my whole Serge system from the UK for this show. I played as much of the score as was possible and practical and if you noticed I always had my hands full.
As Peter mentioned [on the Plan B list] the piano was a Steinway. The piano was micd with two AKG 414s. The original score had the piano ring modulated by two Synton Fenix ring mods. In rehearsal we tried to recreate this but the ring modulators seemed to add to the monitor feedback problems from the piano so I opted to leave the piano untreated. The rest of the gear for the show was as follows:
-Waldorf Microwave - used for bass sequences, and the long chords in sections 2 and 8. This also provided the filtered chords in the improvised middle section.
EMS Synthi AKS - used for effects in sections 2 and 8
Custom EH 16 sec delay - used to reverse and pitch change the EMS in the above sections
Nord Modular - Added sharp attacks to Moog bass notes in section 4
Aries Modular - (kindly lent by Roger Cordell at Big City Music) used to recreate the two
ARP 2600s from the original score. I was seriously impressed with this synth. I checked the tuning on my strobe tuner the day before the show and it seemed very stable. Five minutes before the show I checked it again and was pleasantly surprised to find that all four VCOs were rock solid.
Moog Voyager - (thanks again to Roger Cordell) used for fast intro sequences in section 1, bass in section 4 and the nasal solo I played in section 6.
Serge Modular - (thanks to Chris Pitman) used for Peter's SLOS
Kenton Pro4 - Midi - CV convertor used to run the Aries
Doepfer and Fatar midi controllers - (kindly lent by Analogue Haven) used to control the
Waldorf and Nord in both my piece and Alessandro's.
Apple Macbook with MOTU midi and audio interfaces - played samples via NI Kontakt,
sequenced the onstage synths and provided large visual cues (because I'm almost blind) via MOTU Digital Performer for sections 2 and 8.
During my piece Gary added various Roland textures throughout but particularly amazing bell-like textures in sections 2 and 8. Peter added more to the chordal sections and descending tones on my Moog solo.
Alessandro added some great French Connection/EAR to the chordal sections and evolving Buchla to the improvised section 5.
Chas played steel on the chordal sections and bowed his waterphone device in section 5.
Thighp"
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Scream 2007: AnalogLive! Images via Amateur Chemist
Click here for the full set of images on Amateur Chemist.
Pictured: Peter Grenader's setup. Peter Grenader organized the event and is the man behind Plan B.
Be sure to check out the comments of this previous post for some good reviews over the show. There are also more shots added to the set.
Monday, November 19, 2007
AnalogLive! Photo Set
"It was an amazing night, as a packed house of 250 plus applauded Alessandro Cortini, Richard Devine, Thighpaulsandra, Gary Chang, Chas Smith,Paul Tzanetopoulos and Peter Grenader as they twisted sound and sight alike at the Redcat Theater in Los Angeles. Click here for the first flickr images taken from the final rehearsal and the performance itself and check back in the next few days as more are added." Previous posts on Analog Live!
Update: be sure to check out the comments in this post for some details on the show.
Update: More images via Anateur Chemist here.
Update: be sure to check out the comments in this post for some details on the show.
Update: More images via Anateur Chemist here.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
AnalogLive! Day 1 Rehearsals
Some images of the gear sets and people of Analog Live!, day 1 of rehearsals. You can find more info on the upcoming event this Friday on the Redcat website.
Images of sets in order:
-The rehearsal room
-Alessandro
-Richard Devine/Alessandro
-Grenader
-Chas Smith (guitarzilla)
-Thighpaulsandra
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
SCREAM 2007: ANALOGLIVE!
Just a reminder that SCREAM 2007: ANALOG LIVE! is this Friday. You can find more info on the official site. Be sure to check out this post for the instrument list.
This image is via the Analogue Haven mailing list, also sent my way via brian c. Click the image for the full size shot.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
SCREAM 2007: ANALOGLIVE! - Instrument List
Via Peter Grenader on the Plan B list:
"as of Friday all of the ensemble performers have arrived in the Los Angeles area, with Richard coming in from Atlanta and Thighpaulsandra making the long trek from Wales. We begin work early in the week in a sound stage before commencing formal rehearsals in the theater on Thursday afternoon.
As far as the equipment we'll be using, we've put together an orchestra of oscillators: Off the top of my head - three rather large Plan B systems, a Doepfer/Plan B/Livewire system, Arp 2600, two cabinets of Aries, one nine panel and a medium-sized three panel Serge fitted with a custom Plan B model 13, the largest Wiard system in the world, an EMS Synthi-AKS, the EAR Performance system, a Buchla 200e, Nord Modular, a Novation, a Waldorf Wave, two tcelectronic reverbs (a 2000 and 60000), tons of delays and a Yamaha SPX90. Controller include a C-Thru-Music Axis, a Continuum Fingerboard, a Doepfer PK88 and MAQ 16/3, Roland A-33, a Fatar workstation and an Analogue Systems French Connection.
Along with a wall of effect racks, Chas Smith will be bringing two of his own instruments: the Guitarilla and the Towers. Guitarzilla is a steel guitar made of machined aluminum and welded titanium tubing. It has a 12 string neck tuned to a diatonic scale and an 8-string bass neck. It is also fitted with a small waterless Waterphone-type instrument which is bowed. The Towers are eight 1 1/4" diameter grade 9 titanium rods with titanium plates welded on the ends which are both bowed and struck with a variety of mallets. The longest Tower is 109", standing over 10 feet tall in it's hanger, and the shortest is 55". They have been cut to form a scale which can be obliterated by the complexity of the sounds that the plates generate. They're sonically and visually majestic, bordering on astonishing. Go here for a photo:
http://www.ear-group.net/towers.jpg (pictured)
We will be performing six pieces, one each from the six players, all of which performed by the ensemble - it's not a series of solo performances. Three of the pieces will be world premiers."
click here for more info on the event.
"as of Friday all of the ensemble performers have arrived in the Los Angeles area, with Richard coming in from Atlanta and Thighpaulsandra making the long trek from Wales. We begin work early in the week in a sound stage before commencing formal rehearsals in the theater on Thursday afternoon.
As far as the equipment we'll be using, we've put together an orchestra of oscillators: Off the top of my head - three rather large Plan B systems, a Doepfer/Plan B/Livewire system, Arp 2600, two cabinets of Aries, one nine panel and a medium-sized three panel Serge fitted with a custom Plan B model 13, the largest Wiard system in the world, an EMS Synthi-AKS, the EAR Performance system, a Buchla 200e, Nord Modular, a Novation, a Waldorf Wave, two tcelectronic reverbs (a 2000 and 60000), tons of delays and a Yamaha SPX90. Controller include a C-Thru-Music Axis, a Continuum Fingerboard, a Doepfer PK88 and MAQ 16/3, Roland A-33, a Fatar workstation and an Analogue Systems French Connection.
Along with a wall of effect racks, Chas Smith will be bringing two of his own instruments: the Guitarilla and the Towers. Guitarzilla is a steel guitar made of machined aluminum and welded titanium tubing. It has a 12 string neck tuned to a diatonic scale and an 8-string bass neck. It is also fitted with a small waterless Waterphone-type instrument which is bowed. The Towers are eight 1 1/4" diameter grade 9 titanium rods with titanium plates welded on the ends which are both bowed and struck with a variety of mallets. The longest Tower is 109", standing over 10 feet tall in it's hanger, and the shortest is 55". They have been cut to form a scale which can be obliterated by the complexity of the sounds that the plates generate. They're sonically and visually majestic, bordering on astonishing. Go here for a photo:
http://www.ear-group.net/towers.jpg (pictured)
We will be performing six pieces, one each from the six players, all of which performed by the ensemble - it's not a series of solo performances. Three of the pieces will be world premiers."
click here for more info on the event.
Sunday, November 04, 2007
SCREAM 2007: ANALOGLIVE!
"The program for SCREAM: Analoglive!, November 16th at the Redcat Theater in the Disney Music Hall in Los Angeles, is as follows:
Gary Chang: Sanctuaries: Faith (2007)
Chas Smith: The Ghosts on the Windows (2007)*
Richard Devine: Captract (2004)
[intermission]
Alessandro Cortini: Paris 1 (2006)*
Thighpaulsandra: The Aborted Ascension Of Angel Assassins (2007)*
Peter Grenader: The Secret Life of Semiconductors (2003)
*Denotes a premiere. Gary Chang's 'Sanctuaries: Faith' was part of his summer performance tour in Europe 2007. Richard Devine's 'Captract' is from his 2004 Schematic Records release 'asect/dsect' and Grenader's ' Secret Life of Semiconductors', in which only Part 4 will be presented, was originally written for and performed by the Odin Dance Company in 2003.
The performance will be heavily documented - photographed and filmed - with both posted at a future date on the EAR site and of course MATRIXSYNTH.
For more information or to purchase tickets, go here: http://redcat.org/season/0708/mus/scream.php"
Gary Chang: Sanctuaries: Faith (2007)
Chas Smith: The Ghosts on the Windows (2007)*
Richard Devine: Captract (2004)
[intermission]
Alessandro Cortini: Paris 1 (2006)*
Thighpaulsandra: The Aborted Ascension Of Angel Assassins (2007)*
Peter Grenader: The Secret Life of Semiconductors (2003)
*Denotes a premiere. Gary Chang's 'Sanctuaries: Faith' was part of his summer performance tour in Europe 2007. Richard Devine's 'Captract' is from his 2004 Schematic Records release 'asect/dsect' and Grenader's ' Secret Life of Semiconductors', in which only Part 4 will be presented, was originally written for and performed by the Odin Dance Company in 2003.
The performance will be heavily documented - photographed and filmed - with both posted at a future date on the EAR site and of course MATRIXSYNTH.
For more information or to purchase tickets, go here: http://redcat.org/season/0708/mus/scream.php"
Saturday, October 20, 2007
AnalogLive! Upate
"PaulTzanetopoulos outlines the video concept for Analoglive, slated for November 16th at the Redcat Theater located at the Disney Music Center in Los Angeles:
'Six direct video feeds (one per player) will supply the source materials for a real-time interactive video abstract which will be projected onto a large screen at the rear wall of the theater.Simultaneously, other various video images will be rear-projected onto five 30 foot high translucent light curtains (scrims) which will be hung behind the performers who are positioned in a semicircle of 1 and 2 foot high risers upstage . The audience experience will consist of the video montage created by these image layers.'
A note to those who may becontemplating attending this event: seats are selling quickly!
For more information goto: link"
'Six direct video feeds (one per player) will supply the source materials for a real-time interactive video abstract which will be projected onto a large screen at the rear wall of the theater.Simultaneously, other various video images will be rear-projected onto five 30 foot high translucent light curtains (scrims) which will be hung behind the performers who are positioned in a semicircle of 1 and 2 foot high risers upstage . The audience experience will consist of the video montage created by these image layers.'
A note to those who may becontemplating attending this event: seats are selling quickly!
For more information goto: link"
Sunday, September 09, 2007
SCREAM 2007: ANALOGLIVE!
Tickets are now on sale. Title link takes you there.
Note: There are a couple of errors in the event listing as follows: Thighpaulsandra is credited as a percussionist and pianist. While there may be piano involved in his performance, he is part of the evening's analog ensemble, as is Alessandro Cortini of Nine Inch Nails, who's name was mistakenly omitted from the Redcat event listing. Both of these errors will be corrected early next week.
"Prized for their vibrant sounds and the physical immediacy they allow performers, analog synthesizers are combined here with acoustic instruments and kinetic video sculptures in the annual concert presented by the Southern California Resource for Electro-Acoustic Music. This performance features an unconventional six-member ensemble comprising film composer Gary Chang, composer and sound designer Richard Devine, composer and instrument designer Peter Grenader, composer and instrument designer Chas Smith, pianist and percussionist Thighpaulsandra, and multimedia artist and video sculptor Paul Tzanetopolous."
Pictured here is Thighpaulsandra who has actually dropped by a few times to comment on Matrixsynth. Also note Peter Grenader of Plan b.
Note: There are a couple of errors in the event listing as follows: Thighpaulsandra is credited as a percussionist and pianist. While there may be piano involved in his performance, he is part of the evening's analog ensemble, as is Alessandro Cortini of Nine Inch Nails, who's name was mistakenly omitted from the Redcat event listing. Both of these errors will be corrected early next week.
"Prized for their vibrant sounds and the physical immediacy they allow performers, analog synthesizers are combined here with acoustic instruments and kinetic video sculptures in the annual concert presented by the Southern California Resource for Electro-Acoustic Music. This performance features an unconventional six-member ensemble comprising film composer Gary Chang, composer and sound designer Richard Devine, composer and instrument designer Peter Grenader, composer and instrument designer Chas Smith, pianist and percussionist Thighpaulsandra, and multimedia artist and video sculptor Paul Tzanetopolous."
Pictured here is Thighpaulsandra who has actually dropped by a few times to comment on Matrixsynth. Also note Peter Grenader of Plan b.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
AnalogLive! at the Redcat Theater - November 16th, 2007
"We're extremely pleased to announce the confirmation of AnalogLive! - a live all-analog ensemble performance at the CalArts Redcat Theater, located in the Disney Music Hall complex in Los Angeles, on November 16th.
Bringing together some of today's leading composers, performers and designers for a real-time presentation of works centered around the revival of analog synthesis, Analoglive! is a collaborative live ensemble performance from composers Gary Chang, Alessandro Cortini of Nine Inch Nails, Richard Devine, Peter Grenader, Chas Smith, and a rare Los Angeles appearance by Thighpaulsandra of the band Spiritualized, along with Paul Tzanetopoulos - involving kinetic video sculpture, electro-acoustic music via analog synthesizers and acoustic instruments.
For more information on the show, click the link below and we hope to see you there!
http://www.ear-group.net/analoglive!.html"
Bringing together some of today's leading composers, performers and designers for a real-time presentation of works centered around the revival of analog synthesis, Analoglive! is a collaborative live ensemble performance from composers Gary Chang, Alessandro Cortini of Nine Inch Nails, Richard Devine, Peter Grenader, Chas Smith, and a rare Los Angeles appearance by Thighpaulsandra of the band Spiritualized, along with Paul Tzanetopoulos - involving kinetic video sculpture, electro-acoustic music via analog synthesizers and acoustic instruments.
For more information on the show, click the link below and we hope to see you there!
http://www.ear-group.net/analoglive!.html"
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
AnalogLive!
"We're pleased to announce AnalogLive! - an all-analog live ensemble performance coming to the Redcat Theater at LA's Disney Music Hall this Fall.
Performers include Gary Chang, Alessandro Cortini of Nine Inch Nails, Richard Devine, Peter Grenader, Chas Smith and making a rare L.A. appearance -- Thighpaulsandra of the band Spiritualized, with live kinetic video sculpture by Paul Tzanetopoulos (not to mention miles of analog synthesizers).
More information will be posted in the coming weeks. For information on Redcat, go here: http://www.redcat.org"
Performers include Gary Chang, Alessandro Cortini of Nine Inch Nails, Richard Devine, Peter Grenader, Chas Smith and making a rare L.A. appearance -- Thighpaulsandra of the band Spiritualized, with live kinetic video sculpture by Paul Tzanetopoulos (not to mention miles of analog synthesizers).
More information will be posted in the coming weeks. For information on Redcat, go here: http://www.redcat.org"
HOME
© Matrixsynth - All posts are presented here for informative, historical and educative purposes as applicable within fair use.
MATRIXSYNTH is supported by affiliate links that use cookies to track clickthroughs and sales. See the privacy policy for details.
MATRIXSYNTH - EVERYTHING SYNTH
© Matrixsynth - All posts are presented here for informative, historical and educative purposes as applicable within fair use.
MATRIXSYNTH is supported by affiliate links that use cookies to track clickthroughs and sales. See the privacy policy for details.
MATRIXSYNTH - EVERYTHING SYNTH