On Sacred Rights

Have some thoughts on the Terminal Quartet performance commissioned for the Growing the Australian Commons Conference, some of which I’d like to incorporate acoustic instruments that are appropriated in real time, in that what each participant contributes is not only a theme as such, but a process for integration of the acoustic qualities of the instruments at hand… and the instruments would be of a traditional nature, tuned to accommodate a pre-defined markam (or marquam). These are essentially Turkish scales used for improvisation that display unique intervalic characteristics.

So, that’s roughly the theory side of things. In practical terms, everything the quartet performs, from the individual movements created by each performer to the final work would be CC licensed for re-use and catalogued online within freesound, etc. Each participant would also be encouraged to utilise CC licensed samples and soundscapes…

The theme(s) of the piece would be based on creativity, specifically music as a communal, cultural process that seeks to transmit that which separates and that which brings us together… in affect, I’m are talking about creating an electro acoustic work that expresses separation, longing and unification – a contemporary work that draws on the sacred that communicates to audiences through the relentless pace of commerce and homogenisation, the excessive drain on finite resources to sustain modernity and every other mind numbing global crisis.

We may call the piece, Licht Drift and dedicate the work to Stockhausen.

Frequency Post

Launching Frequency Post live from the studios of KunstRadio, Vienna, Sunday 23 October 2005.

Broadcast/streaming and Podcast details:

Streaming at 23:05 CET, 24 October, 7am local Australian time.
World time via: http://www.worldtimeserver.com/

Frequency Post is comprised of six generative sound works, each an investigation of radio frequency allocation as defined by the broadcasting legislations, technologies and economic pressures brought to bear on each of countries and/or regions individually commissioned sound artist/composers choose to draw inspiration from.

Project includes works by Warren Burt, Ollie Olsen, Steve Law, Pei (Taiwan) and Jin Shan (mainland China).

2030 Derive on KunstRadio

2030 Derive, a remix of the three hour radio play, Radio Derive, was played on air Sunday 12 June 2005 on KunstRadio, Austria.

Listen to Radio Derive, the 2030 Mix (streamed MP3).

Lucid Dreams

John Peel’s influence, his tenacity and support for difference was well known and felt deeply by many in the experimental music scene in Australia. I had first heard of John Peel in the late 70s when community broadcasters, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s 2JJ began playing avant garde pop and little known experimental musical genres to their listeners.

Live: Garton, Curtis at Submerge

A 16 minute sample from a live set at Submerge, recorded 30 January 2005. The opening underscore is from Russian composer, Boro Cloth, with text by penned Sydney based composer/film-maker, David Nerlich, and narrated by yours truely.

Sunday morning, inner-stage, Submerge, Opeia Eco-Arts Retreat.

• Andrew Garton: Laptop (samples, beat processing, sequencing), theremin/ring modulator, PMA5/synthesis, voice
• Justina Curtis: Violin, SH101, champagne

Garton, Curtis Live at Submerge [MP3, 15.3MB]

Memory Effect 001

A generative composition derived from GPS coordinates commissioned for the opening of Iteration 2, the second international conference on generative systems in the electronic arts, 5-7 Dec 2001.

Performed with Frostwave ring modulator and infra-red theremin, or Beamer.

To listen to Memory Effect 001 you will require the SSEYO Audio Plugin. SSEYO recommend only IE, but I have been able to install the plugin with Firefox. I’m not sure what happened to the Apple version of the plugin (?).

Listen to Memory Effect.

International Theremin Orchestra: Touchless

“The termen-vox (theremin), the precursor of the synthesizer, built in 1919 by the Russian inventor Lev Sergejewitsch Termen (Theremin), is the worlds first commercially produced electronic musical instrument. The instrument is played with the two hands by moving them in front of two separate antennas. As usual you control pitch and volume determined by the distance between the hands and the antennas. The termen-vox generates a sound similar to a female voice.”

4 December 1997 saw the first performance of the International Theremin Orchestra performing the networked piece, Touchless 01. It was performed for “Recylcing the Future“, RadioKulturhaus, Vienna.

Touchless 01 (L-R: Garton, C. Kurzmann, S Messina, Scanner)

On the 4th and 6th of April 1998, the International Theremin Orchestra met to perform in Austria, Touchless 2, at the Kunst Halle Krems, Minoritenkirche and the Ars Electronica Center, Linz. These performances resulted in the CD release, Touchless, now available from various online stores and retailers.

Lecture: Art on-air, on-line, on-site

Son of Science – Sampler

Son of Science sampler, recorded live at Republika.

Andrew Garton: Laptop (Ableton Live, AudioMulch), synths, guitars, piano
Steve Law: Laptop (Ableton Live), synth

All pieces composed and arranged by Andrew Garton.

Internet: Good Morning To All

Generative interpretations of “Good Morning To All” commissioned by and produced in collaboration with Western Front, Canada, for Arts Birthday, 17 Jan 2004.