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VIVO Education and Vancouver New Music have teamed up for an event and workshop series to explore circuit bending and glitch. We’ve hosted a Ladies’ Hacking Night / Atari Punk Console Build and Intro to Circuit Bending workshop, and gathered together Vancouver makers, artists, hackers and musicians, looking to share new sounds, hacked instruments, and unique performances.
The final showcase on November 7th will feature over 15 artists/hackers and musicians with performances and “Show and Tell’s” throughout the evening.
If you’re remotely interested in electronics, experimental music, hacking, or just want to get transported to another dimension, this event is worth visiting. Please consider donating a minimum of $10 to go towards making more events like this happen. No one turned away for lack of funds. All donations go towards making this and other events like it, possible. You can RSVP in advance via Eventbrite.
Performances/Schedule
Doors at 7pm
7:45 pm
Frederick Brummer – “Tape/Disc”
The Tape/Disc system is a remix of the turntable : a hybrid between audio tape and 12″ records, the system is a purely analog recording medium, sampler, and audio looper. The project was developed with support of a research grant from the Canada Council for the Arts and has recently toured through Seattle and Portland as part of the NorthWest Loopfest.
More info here: http://www.frederickbrummer.com/tape-disc/
8 pm
Sara Gold & Emily Thacker – experimental researches in electricity
Using a small selection of powerful vintage analog electronic instruments, Sara Gold will showcase the capabilities of such fine specimens as the paia 4700 modular system, Roland’s re-201 space echo and a Roland Tr-909 drum machine amongst others.
Emily has a keen interest in DIY audio electronics. Through an autodidactic process she has built various kits by Music From Outer Space, BleepLabs, Eric Archer and PAIA. In recent years her attention has been turned towards video synthesis and the offerings of Gijs Gieskes. She will be performing with her video synths and various feedback methods in collaboration with Sara Gold on audio.
8:15 pm
Giorgio Magnanensi • Kedrick James• Shawn Cashin • Jayson Thiessen – glitchdrones
A set of textures, clouds and grains using rewired Texas Instruments speech synths, chaotic synth and granular video glitches.
With Kedrick James, voice and electronics.
8:30pm
Show & Tell:
Russell Kramer – NES Zapper ;
Vincent van Haaff – Casio keyboard, Speak & spell mash-up. Furbies, speak & spell, stylophones, math & spell;
Holly Beckmyer – Theremin Demonstration
Bella McKee, Theano Pavlidou & Michelle La Haye – Atari Punk Console Demo
An Atari Punk console is an astable square wave oscillator driving a monostable oscillator that creates a single (square) pulse. There are two controls, one for the frequency of the oscillator and one to control the width of the pulse. The controls are usually potentiometers but the circuit can also be controlled by light, temperature, pressure etc. by replacing a potentiometer with a suitable sensor (e.g., photo resistor for light sensitivity). Most of the time there is also a power switch (often a toggle switch) and a volume knob.
9:15 pm
Norah Lorway & Kiran Bhumber – A mixture of live code and performance hacking.
Kiran and Norah digitally circuit bend through real-time algorithmic language Supercollider, creating dense ambients, beat-based textures, capturing and live processing clarinet sound.
9:30 pm
Chris Hixon
Chris will do a solo performance with his unusual noise kit which includes the Casio SK-1, Vtech Talk and Type, Furby Baby, Radio Shack Portable Karaoke, Slacksophone (Light Theremin), and Boss Overdrive with Atari 2600 Controller.
VIVO is located in the homelands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples in a warehouse space at 2625 Kaslo Street south of East Broadway at the end of E 10th. Transit line 9 stops at Kaslo Street on Broadway. From the bus stop, the path is paved, curbless, and on a slight decline. The closest skytrain station is Renfrew Station, which is three blocks south-east of VIVO and has an elevator. From there, the path is paved, curbless, and on a slight incline. There is parking available at VIVO, including wheelchair access parking. There is a bike rack at the entrance. The front entrance leads indoors to a set of 7 stairs to the lobby.
A wheelchair ramp is located at the west side of the main entrance. The ramp has two runs: the first run is 20 feet long, and the second run is 26 feet. The ramp is 60 inches wide. The slope is 1:12. The ramp itself is concrete and has handrails on both sides. There is an outward swinging door (34 inch width) at the top of the ramp leading to a vestibule. A second outward swinging door (33 inch width) opens into the exhibition space. Buzzers and intercoms are located at both doors to notify staff during regular office hours or events to unlock the doors. Once unlocked, visitors can use automatic operators to open the doors.
There are two all-gender washrooms. One has a stall and is not wheelchair accessible. The other is a single room with a urinal and is wheelchair accessible: the door is 33 inches wide and inward swinging, without automation. The toilet has 11 inch clearance on the left side and a handrail.
To reach the bathrooms from the studio, exit through the double doors and proceed straight through the lobby and down the hall . Turn left, and the two bathrooms will be on your right side. The closest one has a stall and is not wheelchair accessible. The far bathroom is accessible.
Born and raised in Italy, Giorgio Magnanensi currently lives in Roberts Creek on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, Canada. His diverse artistic practice includes composition, conducting, improvisation, circuit–bending and video art. From the early 80’s to date he has been working as a composer, conductor, teacher, and performer in Europe, Japan and Canada. He is artistic director of Vancouver New Music, Laboratorio Arts Society and lecturer at the School of Music of The Vancouver Community College.
Sara Gold is a non binary experimental interdisciplinary film maker and sound artist operating on unceded Coast Salish Territories. Their sound art practice includes extensive live performance and recording experience. Gold is a member of the Media Arts Committee, administrating sound art programs through MAC CRES, a longstanding series of calls to artists to produce original works under a theme. Their curatorial work also includes founding a festival dedicated to local experimental low frequency music and many years of one off events all over Vancouver including instructing workshops on experimental audio techniques.
Emily Thacker is a audio visual artist located in Vancouver, BC. Previously based in Montreal where she completed a BFA in the Film Production Department of Concordia University and initiated two festivals (Sonic Meltdown 1 and 2). She has performed her music and video pieces in Montreal, Vancouver and Washington.
Frederick Brummer is a musician, designer, and sound artist. His sonic inventions have been shown as interactive installations and featured in live performances at such illustrious venues as the VAG, SAG, Western Front, Vancouver New Music’s Circuit Cabaret Festival, and VIVO’s own Signal+Noise Media Art Festival.
Kiran Bhumber is a composer, performer, programmer and music-educator from Vancouver, Canada. She completed her Bachelors of Music (2014) degree majoring in Secondary Music Education (Clarinet Concentration) from the University of British Columbia.
Kiran Bhumber’s work focuses on motion-tracking technology and new interfaces for musical expression to create both sonic and visual interactive environments for performers and audiences.
Norah Lorway is a Canadian live coding laptop performer, composer, software developer and pianist based in UK. She recently completed her Ph.D in Computer Music at University of Birmingham with Scott Wilson. Norah is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of British Columbia where she teaches SuperCollider and laptop orchestra. Her current [Canada Council for the Arts funded] research project deals with writing software to facilitate an accessible system for gesture control and live coding. She is also a Visiting Research Fellow and Lecturer at the University of Birmingham where she is a researcher with BEER (Birmingham Ensemble for Electroacoustic Research) and teaches SuperCollider and interactive programming.
Bella McKee is a musician, composer, teacher, artist, and aerialist from Vancouver. She is a member of VETO (Vancouver Experimental Theremin Orchestra) and works for a local engineering company manufacturing electric bicycle conversion kits.When she’s not flying high in the sky, or playing with her band, she is in her bedroom recording music and messing around with synthesizers and other electronics.
From early childhood experiments trying making his parents clocks run backwards and robot controlled curtains Dave quickly moved into the world of circuit bending and building. His current artist practice includes design, photography and sound art as well as construction of analog synthesizers/electronics. Current he is developing custom Max/MSP/Jitter software for both audio compositions and multi-media installations which has been exhibited recently in the Patterns show at Aberthau, Thru The Trap Door (On Main Gallery with LocoMotoArt), Queen Elizabeth Park and VIVO’s Signal & Noise Festival.
Rob started working with electronics at the age of twelve, long before every electronic store had kits – back then it was a trip to the library to get a book on scratch built projects. The first was a crystal radio that worked surprisingly well. The next years were followed by light sensing, relay control and other projects that are lost in the sands of time… At sixteen he bought an acetylene welding set and started making metal art. His work history encompassed custom sheetmetal shops, machine shops, marine fabrication and electrical. Now he works full time creating kinetic sculptures and sound art in his home machine shop.
Russell creates interactive audio visual environments through repurposing obsolete technology.
Johan Thornton is an engineer-turned-artist based in Vancouver, B.C. With his love of technology, he programmed games for the Game Boy and Super Nintendo, analyzed nuclear waste storage for Atomic Energy of Canada, and founded a company developing DJ performance gear before turning his focus to art. His largest urban art installation was when he hacked into the Lions Gate Bridge lights and made them blink in Morse code. He has been producing and performing dance music since 1995, and is one of the founders of Soundproof, Vancouver’s longest running underground rave group. Since joining the Burning Man community, Johan has done engineering work on the Temple in 2011, and did engineering work for large art in Burning Man 2012 and 2014.
Chris Hixon is the brains behind local weirdo band Baboon Torture Divison. A longtime explorer of sonic frontiers, he began circuit bending in in 1997 when he stepped on the voicebox of a singing Santa Clause, causing it to glitch. After obtaining some soldering knowhow, the board was installed in a toy gun with a speaker in the barrel, and the glitch hooked up to the trigger. Since then he has been an avid bender of talking toys and old Casios and has been continuously involved in noise one local noise band or another.
Dr. Garnet Hertz is Canada Research Chair in Design and Media Arts and is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Design and Dynamic Media at Emily Carr. His art and research explores themes of DIY culture and interdisciplinary art / design practices. He has shown his work at several notable international venues in thirteen countries including SIGGRAPH, Ars Electronica, and DEAF and was awarded the 2008 Oscar Signorini Award in robotic art. Hertz is founder of Dorkbot SoCal, a monthly Los Angeles-based lecture series on DIY culture, electronic art and design. He has worked at Art Center College of Design and University of California Irvine. His research is widely cited in academic publications, and popular press on his work has disseminated through 25 countries including The New York Times, Wired, The Washington Post, NPR, USA Today, NBC, CBS, TV Tokyo and CNN Headline News. More info: http://conceptlab.com/
Vincent van Haaff is a multi-disciplinary media artist working with computer code to explore virtual and real spaces defined by rule-based systems. Originally from Southern California, he went from a record label co-founder and audio hacker in Los Angeles to an environmental club founder in Santa Barbara before moving to Vancouver to become a software developer and media artist. His expertise spans from data and music visualizations to computer vision, event and community installation, and user-centred design.
Holly Beckmyer is a classically trained soprano, folk fiddler and thereminist. Holly has been a member of VETO since the summer of 2015 and has since played her theremin in both experimental electronic and orchestral concerts.
