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HEARIMPROV
An experimental audiovisual concert which visualises sound, and
targets people interested in improvisation, audiovisual media, and
more specifically, people with hearing difficulties. Curated by
Adinda van ‘t Klooster.
Date: 17th of October
Time: 7:30 pm
Venue: The Sage Gateshead, Barbour Room
Tickets: £5 Concessions: £3
Box Office: 0191 443 4661
For this concert at The Sage Gateshead visual artist van ‘t Klooster,
asked a group of musicians from different backgrounds to improvise to
a range of visual scores rather than notated ones. The sound/music
thus created is then visualised in a live spectrogram, especially
commissioned for this performance. The spectrogram is responsive to
different instruments, such as the brass instruments, voice and
piano, shown by three different spectrograms which are overlapped in
one image.
A spectrogram visualises all the simultaneous frequencies that are
present in a sound. Much used in auditory neuroscience, the
spectrogram shows pronounced patterns of the voice and is widely
regarded as the most revealing visual display of speech. Speech
therapists can read voice spectrograms much like musicians read notes
and they use the spectrogram in teaching deaf people how to use their
voice.
The spectrogram software was written especially for this performance
by Matt Green who is currently undertaking a PhD at the Sonic Arts
Research Centre in Belfast. The interface allows for a high level of
frequency adjustment/customisation in the sound with a direct visual
and aural output. Thus, the program is an ideal tool for people with
hearing difficulties as it allows for a better understanding of which
frequencies in the sound they have lost or are over-sensitive to.
After the concert there will be the opportunity to try out the
spectrogram software which allows you to amplify or take out
particular frequencies with direct audiovisual feedback.
An induction hearing loop will be available at the concert venue.
The proceeds of this concert will go to the Royal National Institute
for the Deaf.
The musicians are:
John Ayers (clarinet)
Steve Brown (keyboard, guitar, voice)
Jamie Thompson (oboe)
Steve Ojay (bass, voice)
Adinda van ‘t Klooster (cornet)
Mona McCarthy (accordion, voice)
Nick Williams (string instruments)
Ralph Bossingham (saxophone)
Dominic Smith (melodica)
Pete Hindle (spectrogram operator)
THE VISUAL SCORES
Translating Nature: B) Nanotextures
8 mins by Julie Freeman
Freeman's animated visual score is an abstracted representation of a
biological process. The process is derived from research into self-
assembled nano-textures that could be used for stem cell sorting and
the detection of pathogens. The score has been created in Processing,
a java-based programming environment.
With many thanks to Jeremy J Ramsden, Professor of Nanotechnology at
Cranfield University.
‘Hearing the lines you drew and the colours you spread’
30 mins by Adinda van ‘t Klooster
This half hour visual video score on DVD was initially generated by a
computer program written in Max/MSP. The patch was designed to
respond to the live sound input of ‘Sarah was Ninety Years Old’ by
Arvo Pärt, performed in Gloucester Cathedral. The video score thus
created has since been given to various electro acoustic musicians
who have improvised to it in different ways. This is the tenth
interpretation of the score.
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/connectingprinciple/projects/linesandcolours.htm
0, 0, 0
10 minutes by Steve Brown
This score was built in second life by creating virtual kinetic
sculptures occluded by infinite dark matter (0, 0, 0). It was
recorded live as a single performance by Parthenon Acropolis (Brown’s
avatar) mapping the shapes and colours onto discrete elements of the
music he was listening to.
Happy-NES
10 mins by Dominic Smith
Smith enjoys breathing new life into sad and lonely forgotten
machines. For this score he has stripped a Nintendo NES cartridge
back to a basic set of tiles. Each tile set responds to a MIDI* note
number. By passing it live MIDI information he has been able to
create a dense visual score that is nostalgic, hypnotic and
irresistible.
This score has rapid flashing lights so photo sensitive epilepsy
warnings apply!
* MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface and is an
exchange data format used between a computer and musical instruments.
This project has been supported by Newcastle University, ISIS Arts,
the University of Sunderland & the AHRC, a-n The Artists Information
Company and ERDF (European Regional Development Funds) through CSDI
and the Arts Council England North East
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