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DKO at FRANK Part 2: Everyday Music (2012)

This is an excerpt from a performance by DKO from the MCAD MFA open studio night on December 7, 2012 as discussed in the post Live Binaural Recording of DKO with Oliver Grudem. The document features Oliver Grudem (not shown) who produced the audiovisual score in real-time. The video and sound coming from the LED display and loud speaker below it was broadcast into the performance space as Oliver walked around the Minneapolis Uptown area during a snow storm. The visuals and sound from his walk provided a “score” for us to respond to as we improvised. Oliver was also able to hear our musical reactions to the audiovisual score as he was broadcasting and respond accordingly.

The piece was recorded with my custom built binaural head microphone to capture the sound localization of the performance space. NOTE: It is necessary to wear high quality headphones to experience the binaural effect. The spatial properties of studio monitors are also acceptable but will not produce the same localization of the sound sources. Thanks goes out to Eric Dowell for shooting video of the one hour long performance. I am working on editing a shorter version to briefly summarize the essence of the piece. This 13 minute video is a more in depth snapshot of what the performance entailed.

Binaural Video of David Byrne’s Installation Playing the Building

On November 27, 2012 I made a binaural recording of David Byrne’s installation, Playing the Building (2012), at Aria in Minneapolis. During my session in the space I recorded a solo performance of myself, a duet with me and Jon Davis on bass clarinet, and a trio (DKO) with me, Graham O’Brien on drums and Jon Davis. I used a binaural head to record each performance. I have been interested in building a binaural head for some time, and finally got the parts together including a mannequin head, silicone ears, and overhead microphones capsules. I’ll share more about “Vincent” (the head’s name), and the rest of the recordings soon. For now here’s a video of my solo performance. Remember to listen using headphones in order to hear the binaural spatial effects. You’ll hear the installation surrounding you, a visitor bouncing a tennis ball off to the right, and occasional interjections of people in conversation.

Time-lapse of In Habit: Living Patterns

This video created by Caleb Coppock illustrates the time scope (from dusk until dawn) of the In Habit: Living Patterns performance at Northern Spark, June 2012. I composed the music for the sixteenth and final vignette in the sequence titled, Energy and then adapted it for the time-lapse sequence.

Keep an eye/ear out for upcoming documentation that will display the dance movements in real-time. I also have some video with binaural audio recorded at one of the performances that I will be sharing as well.

Northern Spark In Habit: Living Patterns

Recently I have been working on an eight channel, spatialized sound, projection, and dance collaboration. I composed the music entirely using my collection of analog synthesizers. I also designed an octal sound system (eight discrete channels) to spatialize the music and sounds. The performances are Thursday, June 7 at 9pm, Friday, June 8 at 9pm and Saturday, June 9th from 9pm until 6am (yes that is 9 long hours). Checkout In Habit: Living Patterns for the location and other details.

Here’s how I am processing the music for spatialization. The outdoor stage is a raised 18′ x 18′ square that the audience can view from any angle. At each corner I have outward facing wedges to project sound toward the audience. Behind the audience I have inward facing speakers on stands, also at each corner of the venue (a public space under the 3rd bridge in Minneapolis).

Using a Max for Live patch that I developed and another that is part of the M4L toolset I am able to rotate sounds around the system in many ways. This includes clockwise and/or anti-clockwise at variable frequencies around the outer or inner quads or both. I can also pan sound between the inner and outer quads with or without the rotation happening simultaneously. Quick adjustments allow me to create cross pans to for sweeping diagonals and so on. I originally thought I could do this with one of many M4L LFOs, but found out this would be impossible. In a future post I will explain why I had to develop my own patch to do this. For now, please enjoy a sadly two channel rough mix of Kolum, the second in the series of sixteen vignettes, and come to the performance to hear it in all of its spatialized, eight channel glory.

Video: Duet for Synthesizer and the Washing

Note: This video was produced with binaural sound. Please listen with headphones to experience the binaural effect.

In this “duet” I am using the Korg Monotribe to join in with the laundromat ambience as if it were a conscious participant in an improvisational ensemble. The activity in the space produced oscillations that caused sound waves forming drones and rhythmic patterns. I responded with basic oscillators like pulse, saw, or triangle waves. I manipulated the filter, LFO and pitch to create more complex textures that alternately blend and contrast with the ambient sound.

The ambience was recorded with a set of binaural microphones. When wearing stereo headphones the playback of a binaural recording accurately positions the direction of each sound for the listener, immersing them in the spatial soundscape. In contrast the synthesis was recorded in mono, without additional processing. This simulates a process called phonomnesis, or imagined sound, by placing the signal in the center of the listeners sound-space.