In Bb 2.0 is a webpage/project that puts a modern spin on Terry Riley's In C. Created by Darren Solomon and Science for Girls, the project uses 20 YouTube videos (triggered by the you of course) as parts for a single piece. I love the simple directions they provide: "play these together, some or all, start them at any time, in any order."
Rowan Atkinson plays the (invisible) drums:
Rowan Atkinson plays the (invisible) piano:
Thanks to the wonder that is the internet, there is now a version of Arnold Schoenberg's Drei Klavierstücke edited together from cat-on-piano videos. The creator of the video has a webpage with tons of information on the project, including a direct comparison of the finale result to a reference Glenn Gould recording.
You can hear the actual piano version of this movement on YouTube.
My trip to Stockholm was wonderful! I performed the Swedish premiere of Mattias Sköld's Far North (video by Raketa) as part of the electronic music festival OSC09. The concert was on the main stage at Färgfabriken, which is a great industrial warehouse turned into a contemporary art gallery and performance venue. During the same evening, Raketa presented their art project "What makes you happy?" which used a photo booth to take pictures of audience members showing what makes them happy. You can see the results on Raketa's flickr set. Other performances that night included a band that used the "ooblek on a woofer" trick (if you don't know what I'm talking about, there's a video example below). Many thanks to the Institute for Electroacoustic Music in Sweden and Raketa for the funding and support to make the concert possible.
Ooblek on a woofer:
Here's a great video I learned about from Boing Boing's Bobby McFerrin hacks your brain with the pentatonic scale. McFerrin using a simple experiment to reveal an audience's musical expectations. He does lead the audience a little by singing a melody at one point, but they do an amazing job picking out notes based on his movement. I wish that they had pulled off the major third he tries around 0:58.
This a clip from the 2009 World Science Festival's Notes and Neurons event.
One of my current projects is a series of interviews with people that I am working with, have met, or am just interested in. The focus will primarily be on composers, but I'll probably branch out a bit. I expect to post a new interview every month or so.
First up is JacobTV! Jacob Ter Veldhuis, born 1951, is a Dutch composer whose compositions often use tape and video components. From his bio:
Jacob TV is preoccupied with American media and world events and draws raw material from those sources. His work possesses an explosive strength and raw energy combined with extraordinarily intricate architectural design. In his so called boombox works, he makes superb use of electronics, incorporating sound bytes from political speeches, commercials, interviews, talk shows, TVangelists, and what have you - 'urban songs' with a colorful mix of high and low culture.I was lucky enough to meet Jacob at his home in the Netherlands while I was working on his piece Billie last year. This interview was conducted over email last fall.
Zach - Many of your compositions draw from genres outside classical music. What is your approach to this blending of genres?
Jacob - It's a natural thing to do. Bartok, and Beethoven did the same in their days with folk music. I live in this world and listen to all the music that is surrounding me, and has its impact on me. NYC friends say my music is avant pop. I like that. I feel more like a pop composer, like Andy Warhol was a pop artist.
Zach - As a composer, do you consider yourself to have more of a national or global identity?
Jacob - Global.
Zach - The audio samples from your compositions draw heavily on American pop culture, commercialization, and media. What are your reasons for using this as source material?
Jacob - I grew up with it. What happened musically in the USA in the 20th century is more important to me than the discovery of 12 tone music. The USA is still a young nation and a melting pot of cultures, which makes it so very interesting musically, socially, politically. I find that very inspiring. In a way the USA is still exotic to me, I can view the American culture from a distance.
Zach - The speech samples in your compositions are often manipulated/repeated in a way that emphasizes the sounds of the speech as opposed to the actual words. Is there a particular approach to your use of speech?
Jacob - Definitely. The meaning of the words is very important to me. So the semantics are almost just as important as part of the composition. But in a poetic way it all starts by being touched by the beauty of the sound and the meaning of the words... That inspires me to derive the music from it in what I call 'ready made / collage technique'.
Zach - Do you see your music as an historical progression from previous composers? What composers have inspired you?
Jacob - Yes. Beethoven, Bartok, Reich, Dylan.
Zach - In a New York Times article, it was stated that you "openly [reject] dissonance and [strive] for beauty". What is your approach to the use of dissonance versus beauty in music?
Jacob - The dissonance in new music to me is outworn. Many artists remind me of orthodox priests that try to tell us how depraved the world is. We all know this. I try to build several layers in my music. Instead of dissonance I focus on other means like kitsch, harmony as means of expression. Which does not mean I avoid dissonance, but I certainly avoid those on purpose ugly 'dying animal sounds' that make new music so predictable sometimes.
Zach - Some of your music feels very light-hearted to me (sections from Heartbreakers and The Body of Your Dreams). How does comedy play a role in your compositions?
Jacob - Humor is so very important, but there is always tragedy around the corner, like in Heartbreakers, where people suffer from drugs or relationships... I try to write music that has all that.
Zach - Do you have an ideal space for your music to be performed in? In other words, are you writing music for the concert hall, the museum, or the bar?
Jacob - All of it!
Many thanks to Jacob for his time. To hear his music and learn more, visit www.jacobtv.net.
J.S. Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor played on one of those huge electric pianos. I would love one of these in my apartment, haha.
This is a live recording of my performance of Far North at L'Atelier Collaborative during my recent trip to Venice, Italy. This video only covers the first half of the piece. The music was composed by Mattias Sköld (also managing the live processing at the computer on the left) and the projected video was created by Raketa. This performance was part of Raketa's There Is A Visitor art project.